No Regrets (Triquel to Crossed Paths)
by Quakey
Summary: "I have no regrets." Fate Konno had been through Hell and back fighting to show that she won't turn into just another tragedy, but when every possible threat strikes home, she might just succumb. She is forced to question the balances of life and loss, trust and betrayal, love and sacrifice, and learns that here is no thing as too far gone.. and she is the perfect definition of it.
1. AN (Sorry)

**A/N: (Sorry...)**

 **Welcome to "No Regrets"! If you came from the 1** **st** **story, "Crossed Paths" and 2** **nd** **story, "Stay", then welcome!**

 **If you have not read the 1** **st** **and 2** **nd** **books, then please do! I know it probably really sucks to have to go back and forth, but it'll be worth it in the long run! (So you won't be confused and stuff XD)**

 **Thank you for sticking around or looking at this out of curiosity!**

 **Please enjoy~!**


	2. Prologue

Fate woke up the next morning to rough kisses that trailed from the tip of her ear to her shoulder. She smiled, but kept her eyes closed as Destiny's arms tightened around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her chin, turning her head slightly and before Fate could even pen her eyes, Destiny's lips were pressed to hers. It took her several seconds to shake off the drowsiness and finally kiss back, and when she pulled away, she was breathless. She buried her face back into her pillow as Destiny draped his arm over her and chuckled.

"Good morning…" He greeted.

"Good morning…" Fate replied, the response muffled by the pillow. Destiny then ran his hands absentmindedly over her back and shoulders before reaching down to kiss her again.

Finally, he pulled back and sat up slowly with Fate staying behind, a blanket still wrapped around her body as she refused to climb out of the warm sheets and into the cold morning. Destiny grinned a little bit, running a hand along her face, being as gentle as he possibly could.

"Come on…" He ushered softly. "We've gotta get up and dressed before the other's get up. It's already 6 AM."

Fate sighed, knowing that he was right as she finally interlaced her fingers with his, closing her eyes again to allow him to get dressed so they could switch places after he was done. It didn't take him long before he was sitting down; patting the bed gently to tell her that she could get up and get her own clothes on.

Fate let out another soft sigh, slowly getting to her feet. She stumbled a bit before starting to pick up her discarded clothes from the night before, some articles being thrown into the laundry and others were staying with her to be worn again.

However, when she slipped on her tank top, she felt as if her skirt didn't suit her anymore. She loved her flannel and wouldn't give it up for anything, but she didn't want to wear it the same way as she had been. Not to mention that her feet felt too exposed.

That was when she went scavenging through drawers, finally finding the things she wanted. A long sleeved red sweater shirt with one black stripe across it, a pair of dark blue jean shorts that could easily go over her leggings, and a pair of socks that she usually just used as gloves whenever her hands got cold during the night. Then, she found a certain pair of black combat boots that she had abandoned a long time ago.

They were her Aunt Casmyr's when she was little and Fate couldn't bear to leave them behind while she moved on, so they went on her journey with her. Now they'd just be visible and her flannel was wrapped around her waist. She then took a deep breath, turning around to see that Destiny was still waiting with his back turned to her.

"I'm done…" She mumbled, watching as he turned around and then as his face took on a shocked expression, pink dusting over both of their cheeks. "I-I don't look bad, do I?"

Destiny instantly stood up, shaking his head as he stood up, his grin making its entrance on his face once again.

"No, you… You look amazing." He stated, walking forward to place his hands on her hips. "You always look amazing."

"Yah, right, because Hebi blood really made me glow…" Fate laughed, slightly at her joke, before Destiny cupped her face in his hands.

"I'm serious. You're wonderful." He stated, bringing his lips down onto hers for a mere second before pulling them away, smiling instead of grinning. Although, his smile did hide the ghost of a grin in it and it made Fate smile, realizing that she had the amazing Exceed in front of her all to herself.

He was hers and she was his… just the thought of it made her smile as she looked down at her left hand, smiling more as her eyes found the ring Destiny had given her just last night. He kissed her temple gently and she could feel his smile, and it made her giggle.

"It looks good." He said in a whisper before making a joke. "I wonder where you got it from."

"Oh, you know…" Fate started with a chuckle before repeating his words from the night before. "I just got it somewhere off the streets of Magnolia."

They both laughed, enjoying each other's embrace and sharing a small kiss before Fate's head rested on Destiny's head, and his rested on hers as she sighed.

"I'm going to need to buy you one so we can just be married…" Fate stated, making Destiny chuckle.

"I knew that you weren't a wedding person." He stated, gaining a playful scoff from her before he continued. "Neither am I, so that's most likely a good thing."

"So… Am I taking your name or are you taking mine…?" Fate asked curiously. Destiny shrugged a bit before speaking.

"Well, even though it would be an honor to be a Konno or an honor to have you as an Allyn, I think that we should both be Seo's… It would be too confusing for the kids otherwise while they're growing up and… You get it, right?" Destiny asked, sighing in relief when Fate nodded with a small, reassuring smile.

"I think it's probably the best way to go and not only for the kids, but for us and the others as well." Fate stated. Destiny nodded before something else popped into his head.

"Are we going to tell the others…?" He asked before his grin returned, causing Fate to grin. She knew him all too well.

"Nope… Let's just wait for them to figure it out."


	3. Head Problems

"So, how's Ruri?" Krystal asked softly, swallowing slightly awkwardly as Rory's face fell.

"I don't know…" Rory admitted truthfully. "She won't talk to me as much as she used to. She wouldn't go to sleep last night and I don't think she even got a moment of it in. She's not doing okay and I don't know what to do."

"She's grieving." Krystal explained. "She just got her brother back and then she lost him again. You have to expect this from her. She's not made of stone, Rory."

"I know that…" Rory grumbled. "I've just never seen her like this. She's never ignored me like this or avoided me like this before. It's always been me. I'm the one that causes stress in the relationship. I want to help her, but I don't know how."

"Go talk to her." Krystal suggested.

"And say what exactly? ' _Hey, why are you ignoring me so much lately?_ ' Yah, I don't think that will work out…" Rory muttered. "Maybe it's just best if I leave her alone."

"Go talk to her." Krystal repeated firmly as she grabbed a small box from the back of a car. Then, her eyes suddenly widened as she shoulder-checked Rory. "There she is, go!"

Rory rolled his eyes as he wandered away from Krystal's side and crossed over to Ruri who was sitting on the ground putting together a gun that was in pieces. He ran his fingers soothingly through her fur.

"Are you okay?" Rory questioned softly.

"Mm-hmm…" Ruri replied as she glanced over the pieces before returning to the gun.

"You don't have to be." Rory reminded her. "You just lost your brother, again. I know what you're going through. I'm just worried about you. You have to talk to me."

"I don't have to do anything." Ruri snapped and Rory realized that bringing up Caleb probably wasn't doing any of them good. Then, Ruri sighed. "You know, Caleb never did anything like that in his whole life."

"Most people don't get to die in this world over something worth fighting for…" Rory whispered. "Ava and Caleb gave us chances, both with different motives, but they gave us fighting chances. Before Ava died, she told me to take care of you and I will. I will _**always**_ take care of you, Ruri, especially now."

Ruri glanced up at him and Rory hadn't realized that his eyes had begun to fill with tears. He blinked them away before holding a hand out to Ruri, letting her slip hers into it before he pulled her to her feet. As he began to move however, Ruri grabbed his wrist to hold him in place.

"I hope you know that I'll always take care of you, too…" Ruri said, gaining a small smile from Rory.

"That's good." He commented and Ruri scoffed a bit as he let out a light laugh. "Can you just promise me that you won't do anything stupid or anything that'll get you killed anymore?"

"No promises." Ruri teased, relaxing as Rory's fingers combed through her fur, but frowned when Rory suddenly sighed.

"I don't think you should go on the job today…" He mumbled, causing Ruri to roll her eyes.

"Really…?" She asked in annoyance.

"You shouldn't be taking risks in your condition." Rory stated, making Ruri groan.

"My side is fine…" Ruri mumbled. "Mira removed the bullet and the wound is healing perfectly alright. You should be telling that to Fate!"

"I know, I know, but still… I want you to be safe, Ruri." Rory responded.

"That's why I need your protection because I'm just a female, right?" Ruri asked, making Rory instantly shake his head.

"This is _**not**_ because you're female! There's no such thing as a better gender! There's just the fact that we're different genders and I'm worrying about you, alright?" Rory asked before sighing. "If you're coming, then I want you to stick close to me, okay?"

"Alright, fine…" Ruri replied with a sigh before smiling a bit. "You can't force me not to fight, though."

"A man can dream…"

"Oh please, you're still just a boy."

* * *

Fate knew that even though Lucifera was dead, Hebi's would continue to exist just as Seeker's did. That's why she wasn't surprised when she and her team, which she was ecstatic to remember that she had one and that they were still one, found jobs for taking down the creatures.

Of course, the job took a turn for the worse as soon as the first gun was pulled out.

It was hard to really see anything due to the flurry of bodies that were moving past in order to evacuate the recent attack, but Fate could hear the small scream of a child and she whipped her head around to see a little boy scrambling away from a Hebi that was crawling towards him.

Fate sprinted forward, firing a shot into the Hebi's head before pulling the little boy properly to his feet and tried to look for a safe place for him.

"Fate, over here!" Someone called.

Fate turned and her eyes fell on Ruri, who stood in the doorway of a cell with several other children behind her. Fate pushed her way across the cell block with a hand firmly wrapped around the boy's wrist before passing him to Ruri and then returning back to the madness.

She fired her gun again, watching as the Hebi that was sneaking up on Ethan dropped to the ground dead. He nodded in thanks before he turned to stab another Hebi that had latched itself onto a woman.

Suddenly, Fate heard growls in her ear and she whipped around only to fall to the ground due to the sudden force of a Hebi. She hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the wind from her lungs before her attention turned to the Hebi and she nearly froze out of fear.

She supposed it was its jaw that was snapping merely centimeters away from her face, but blood was dripping from its eyes and onto her face. She nearly gagged in disgust, but the Hebi's sharp teeth made her keep her mouth shut and not willing to open.

The Hebi was suddenly ripped off of her and what was supposedly its head was stomped in a moment later before Fate was dragged to her feet and she was looking up into the hazel green eyes of none other than Destiny, who was scanning over her arms and face.

"Are you okay?" He asked, gaining a nod from her.

"Yah, I'm fine. The same can't be said for the others though, so we gotta keep going." Fate stated. She also gained a nod before they split off in different directions.

There was a moment in which she was fine, but then there was another moment in which she tripped… and then everything fell apart.

Fate was moving forward and then she was on the ground. One moment she was running and the next moment she was lying on the ground writhing in pain. Black clouded her vision and she knew that she had lost consciousness, but she didn't know how long she had. She couldn't see out of her left eye. It was completely red.

She lifted a trembling hand and moved to touch her forehead and when she pulled her hand away, it was coated in blood. Her wound had reopened yet again. The blood gushed from her head and dripped down the side of her face, letting her watch as it dripped onto the ground.

Fate then realized that she was being scooped up into someone's arms and realized that it was Janiyah, who Krystal had pulled along on the job. She spared a glance down and when she noticed that Fate was awake, she gasped in shock.

"Oh thank God… You're okay, Fate!" She sighed in relief.

"Don't tell Destiny, my parents, my siblings or my kids…" Fate mumbled weakly, gaining a laugh from Janiyah before she fired her gun at approaching Hebi's.

"Are you alright?" Janiyah asked worriedly, gaining a nod in reply as Fate sat up the rest of the way as she grabbed her gun off of the ground.

Janiyah shook her head with a sigh before she slipped Fate's arm around her neck, allowing the younger girl to lean her weight against her. After a moment, they could no longer hear the snarls of Hebi's or the screams of survivors. They just heard the yells of the others as they finished clearing the place. Fate's head felt better, but it was still bleeding lightly.

Janiyah then made her sit down and removed her bag, pulling out a small first-aid kit and beginning to examine her wound. She wiped away blood and Fate hissed in pain before Janiyah stuck a bandage on the wound.

"It might need stitches, but I'll leave that to Mira…" Janiyah muttered. "The bandage will have to do for now."

Fate nodded a little bit, feeling slightly dizzy as she tried to wipe away the blood coating the entire left side of her face, but it didn't work. She turned her attention to the others as they approached. All of them were obviously worried about what had happened.

"What happened?" Krystal asked, grabbing Janiyah's shoulder and gaining her attention.

"She tripped; fell and it took a turn for the worse. Luck doesn't exactly exist in this world much anymore, you know." Janiyah explained.

Fate tried to stand on her own, but her head began to spin and she started seeing little spots of color. She tried to shake her head but then she was falling, suddenly unable to breathe. Janiyah was surprisingly the first person to act as she caught Fate before she hit the ground, acting calmer than anyone else.

"Hey, are you okay…?" Janiyah asked softly.

"I don't think so…" Fate replied just as softly, maybe even softer, as she clutched her head. "It hurts…"

She was a liability and she knew it. Her head injury was way worse than they thought, whether it was just blood loss or had actually nicked a piece of her brain, something was burning her skull. It hurt.

* * *

"Are you okay?"

Fate looked up at Destiny from within his arms. The group was heading back to the Guild because the job was luckily finished, but her head was still hurting.

"My head just really hurts…" Fate complained. Destiny then kissed the bandage hiding the wound with a small smile and Fate tried to hide the pain in her expression because his kiss actually made it hurt a lot worse. "Thanks… It's healing faster already…" She teased weakly.

"I love you…" Destiny whispered.

"I love you, too…" Fate replied softly, sighing as she leaned her head against Destiny's shoulder. His arms were still wound around her waist and she gripped the fabric of Destiny's shirt between her fingers in order to relax.

"You can't fall asleep, sweetheart, not until we can get Mira to check your head." Destiny reminded, but Fate's eyes were drooping and sleep seemed more powerful than just staying awake and waiting.

"I know, but I'm really tired…"

"Hang on…"

* * *

"Look here… and look here…"

Fate's eyes wandered aimlessly after Mira's small flashlight that was dangling in her face. She wasn't even in the infirmary because she was starting to fall asleep again, so nearly everyone's eyes were on her. The small beam of light seemed so much brighter than anything else and she was struggling to avoid squinting.

Then, the light disappeared and Mira cautiously brushed her hand through some of Fate's fur that was still coated with blood and Fate fell into her touch easily because she was just exhausted, but nothing else was there anymore. No dizziness, no pain… just pure exhaustion.

"Well, there doesn't appear to be any damage to the brain or anything." Mira sighed. Akuma frowned from beside Tenshi and her middle daughter.

"There doesn't _**appear**_?" She repeated. "So, what the Hell does that mean? Is she alright or not?"

Akuma was growing bitter by the second and Fate knew that it was mainly because she had almost lost her only yesterday or so. There was also the fact that her hand was still all screwed up, but it was healing by the second as well, so that was good.

"Well, considering that she's able to stand on her own, walk on her own and that she doesn't feel dizzy, I'd say that she's fine. She's also no longer feeling the same pain, correct?" Mira questioned, gaining multiple nods before turning to Fate. "Do you feel sick or nauseous?"

"No." Fate replied, shaking her head. "I'm just exhausted, but _**someone**_ wouldn't let me fall asleep on the way back."

With that, her eyes landed on Destiny, who was sitting beside her, and he rolled his eyes.

"I only said so because I care and because Akina told me not to let you." He stated, pulling a short laugh out of her.

"Alright, _**fine then**_ …"

"I love you, too."


	4. The Asher's

**A/N: Oh my, a chapter I'm rating M for Mature when really all there is… is a little love at the end~…  
And the mentioning of child abuse *cough***

* * *

"Nate, I don't wanna go…"

"You're sounding more like a little kid than a mature older brother." Nate scoffed at Jered's complaint.

Jered tried to pull away, but that only made Nate tighten his grip around the younger boys' wrists and continued to tug him towards the door. As they neared it, Jered ripped his left hand away and grabbed the doorframe so Nate couldn't pull him any further. Nate took a deep breath.

"Your little sister is busy waiting on the staircase, Jered." Nate sighed. When Jered didn't reply, Nate let out yet another sigh. "I would ask why, but I already know, so instead… Will you **_please_** come to the Guild?"

"Did Nathan Skyward just say please?" Jered asked with a bit of a chuckle and a teasing tone. Nate sent him a glare and before Jered could say anything else, Nate dived forward and flipped Jered over his shoulder, listening as the younger boy let out a small squeal. "Really…?! This isn't cool, Skyward!"

"That's too bad, Asher." Nate responded with a smirk, letting out a grunt as he closed the door behind them. "Unless you want me to carry you in my Human form…"

"Can you just put me down, please?" Jered asked, trying to sound polite and not annoyed. "I'll go with you and Ellena to the Guild, I promise."

"Did Jered Asher just say please?" Nate repeated teasingly, switching his name with Jered's just to be more annoying.

Nonetheless, Nate complied and placed Jered down on his feet. As Jered regained his balance, he frowned at Nate's proud smirk before the older boy grabbed a hold of his wrist once again and started to pull him along.

Nate patted Ellena on the back to get her to follow them, her hand finding her brother's free one as soon as she got onto her feet. As soon as they stepped out into the slightly cold morning weather, Jered shivered because Nate let go of his wrist, exposing it to the soft breeze, before starting to walk again, letting the Asher's follow.

Even with some of the past hostility, everyone was warming up to Jered and he was doing the same, but a little slower than everyone else. That included his sister as well, of course. Nate was one of the first people to do so for reasons that were both not his and were his, and he didn't regret it. When you got to know the Asher's, both of them were kind, funny and fairly loyal.

They were fun to be around… unless you asked about Ellena's health.

Besides Mira, Nate was the only one who actually knew what was wrong with the little girl. Everyone else only knew that she was sick with something and needed medication, but it probably wouldn't go away. That's all they knew. What Mira, Nate, Jered and even Ellena herself knew what that she had Bipolar Disorder and could only last 3 days at the max without any medication. Luckily, Mira had that medication.

Jered and Nate had spoken the most about everything they possibly could and they had become very close despite not seeming like it at times. Whenever Ellena refused to listen to her brother, Nate would step in and help. The reason for that was not only because the 2 of them were close, but also because Ellena happened to remind Nate of Aubree Tanner herself sometimes. Jered honestly didn't mind.

"Jered…" Ellena suddenly addressed her older brother, catching the attention of not only him, but Nate as well. "I've been studying some of the maps at the Guild and I found out that there was a veterinary college at East Tech or something. It's 50 miles out."

"What about it?" Jered questioned, gaining a small shrug from his little sister.

"I was just thinking about this disease back in our village one time, remember? The drugs for animals there are the same ones we needed, but they got medication from other places…" Ellena recalled with a small sigh. "I remember when Grandpa wanted to lead the way to the other place, but he just ended up drawing a map for them… I never found out why…"

"It was because Grandpa only had one arm and his legs were starting to fail him." Jered reminded before his tone suddenly went kind of low. "When we're either out here or out there, it's always the same. Sooner or later, we have to run."

Ellena went quiet and nodded a little bit. Although Nate wanted to say something, he couldn't find any words to say what he wished he could because he knew that Jered was right. One thing the Asher's never talked about was their past before everything else had happened and Nate honestly couldn't blame them because he wouldn't want to talk about his past before everything either. So when things from the past were mentioned, explained or told as a simple story, it really hit hard.

"But no matter where we go, it doesn't matter where we end up as long as we're together…" Nate suddenly stated, able to find some words after taking a breath, glancing back at the pair of siblings. Ellena nodded again, a bit more that time, but Jered seemed to hesitate. "Right…?"

"Yah…" Jered agreed softly, nodding a bit in agreement. "You're right."

"Course I am!" Nate joked, look forward again as he heard Ellena giggling. He caught a faint glimpse of Jered smiling softly and it made him smile more than he had been as Ellena ran ahead, chasing after a butterfly.

They deserved happiness, even if they only got it here and there.

However, the truth of this world was always just around the corner and would hit them in their happiest moments.

"The truth is that eventually, you forget it all…" Nate sighed softly, catching Jered's attention.

"What do you mean by that…?" Jered asked softly. Nate took a deep breath

"First, you would forget everything you learned—the dates of wars and Pythagorean Theorem. You especially forget everything you didn't really learn, but just memorized the night before. You forget the names of all but one or maybe even 2 of your favourite teachers, and eventually, you forget those, too. You forget your junior class schedule and where you used to sit and your best friend's home phone number and the lyrics to that song you must've played a million times.  
Eventually, but slowly, you also forget your humiliations—even the ones that seemed indelible… they just fade away. You forget who was cool and who was not… Who was pretty, smart, athletic, and not… Who went to a good college, who dropped out, who had the most friends…  
You forget all of them, even the ones you said you loved and the ones you actually did. They're the last to go and then once you've forgotten enough… You love someone else."

"I…" Jered trailed off, still unable to understand what Nate was saying. Where had this suddenly come from? "I-I don't understand…"

"The worst feeling isn't being lonely… It's being forgotten by someone you would never forget." Nate replied, continuing to walk although Jered stopped for a moment. He opened his mouth to say something, but Nate couldn't let him. "The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much and forgetting that you're special, too."

"Nate, stop it!" Jered yelled, not meaning to raise his voice as he grabbed Nate's arm and made him stop, making sure that Ellena had stopped ahead to wait for them before turning back to Nate. As he expected, the older boy was nearly ready to start crying. His eyes were full of tears and his lips were pursed to stop him from releasing any sounds such as sobs. "We all make mistakes, have struggles, and even regret things in our past… But we are not our mistakes, we are not our struggles, and we are here right now with the power to shape our day and our future."

Nate didn't reply, he just continued to stare down into Jered's eyes with his tears starting to slowly fall. Suddenly, his expression switched from angry to upset… and somehow, he just looked so hopeless and apologetic.

"No matter how much time goes by… I'll never forget the first time you looked at me and **_how I fell in love_**."

Jered's grip slipped as he eyes widened in shock, his heart seeming to stop alongside his lungs, but he knew that he was still breathing. That was when Nate yanked his arm away and continued to walk, perhaps even faster than before. Jered wanted to call out to him and to run into his arms, but that was just honestly stupid. He couldn't do that.

* * *

Ellena didn't know why she allowed Abygale to pull her along with Micah and Marcy to go down to the river. It was just a river, in a forest nonetheless, but it caught her attention and she joined them after taking her medication and getting permission from her brother

Something she didn't think about was how very well she got along with Marcy.

The whole way there, the both of them exchanged many different words in many different tones and ways while Abygale and Micah stayed out of their way. It only stopped when they got to the river and Marcy went off to help her brother search for fallen branches that they could both lift, leaving Abygale and Ellena in the little clearing together.

"So… Is it just you and Jered?" Abygale asked curiously. Ellena nodded in reply.

"You have a big family, right?" Ellena questioned softly, unsure if she was right or not. Abygale shrugged a bit, confusing the older girl a little bit.

"They kinda adopted me, so I guess so." Abygale replied. "Tenshi and Akuma would be my Grandparents, Henkou would be my Uncle, Yuuki and Cass would be my Aunts, Fate and Destiny would be my parents, and Micah and Marcy would be my younger siblings. I already think of all of them like that, but still…"

Ellena nodded in understanding and they both went silent for a couple of moments.

"What were your parents like? Did you have them?" Abygale asked, gaining another nod from Ellena.

"Jered and I had our Mom and Dad." Ellena replied with a small sigh. "They were both wise and kind sometimes… but they were mostly stupid and mean. They hit me sometimes, but they eventually stopped… I think they still hurt my brother, though…"

"I'm sorry…" Abygale apologized softly. Ellena shook her head.

"My Dad taught me some things, so it wasn't too bad after they stopped hitting me. As long as I did what they said, they promised not to ever do it again…"

* * *

 _"One day whether you're 5, 14, 28 or even 65 years old… You will stumble upon someone who will start a fire in you that cannot die. However, the saddest and most awful truth you will ever come to find is that they are not always the person we're supposed to spend our lives with."_

* * *

Jered didn't mean to knock Nate's journal onto the ground. When he bent down to pick it up, he didn't mean to accidently read it and quickly put it away as his cheeks burned a bright pink. He didn't mean for the words to continue running through his mind moments after.

 _If you're asking if I need you, the answer is forever.  
If you're asking if I will leave you, the answer is never.  
If you're asking what I value, the answer is you.  
If you're asking if I love you, the answer is I do._

As if on cue, the door opened and caused Jered to jump and whip around, his cheeks getting hotter upon seeing Nate, but then he couldn't help but feel upset. Nate looked so emotionally drained… Was it because of him? It would be hard for them to just stop talking or anything because they were really close. They lived together with some of the others and since Jered didn't want to bother anyone, Nate had helped him set up a mini bed for both him and Ellena in the corner beside his.

Nonetheless, Nate closed the door behind him and wandered into the middle of the room, mumbling a greeting to Jered who mumbled one back. Jered's gaze was glued to the floor, but when he looked up in order to speak; his breath got caught in his throat.

Every night it happened and every morning it reversed, but for some reason… Jered couldn't look away. Nate always wore a tank top under his sweatshirt for hotter days and always wore it to bed. For that to be done he needed to strip his sweatshirt and when he often did so, he flashed his bare torso for a couple of moments.

It made Jered's cheeks return to what they had been moments before, but he took a deep breath to calm his racing heart.

"Um… You went on a job with some of the others today, right? H-How did it go?" Jered asked softly, feeling like he was back to square one.

"It was fine." Nate replied just as softly, but more sternly.

Jered didn't know what happened, but he started thinking about so many different things and it made him wonder… Was Nate just worried about losing him because he had lost Aubree?

"Do you… I mean, are you still grieving…?" Jered questioned with his voice no more than a whisper. He noticed how Nate had suddenly tensed and nearly winced because he knew he shouldn't have brought it up.

"… I'll admit that I miss Aubree the most because she said goodbye. I never wanted to hear anyone say that, not after I lost my Mom. I didn't want to lose anyone else I cared about ever again…" Nate sighed in reply, making Jered's heart drop. He never thought about Nate's past because he never brought it up. He never wanted to pry, but did Nate need someone to talk to…? "I never wanted them to say goodbye because saying goodbye means going away and going away means **_forgetting_** …"

Jered didn't know what motivated him, but he was suddenly hugging Nate from behind, making the older boy tense once again. He felt like he was melting as he closed his eyes and the noise in the room stopped. Jered felt safe and comfortable holding onto Nate and he had no worries or fears… just a calm feeling. With his torso pressed against Nate's back and his arms around the older boy… He felt infinite.

"Letting go doesn't mean giving up, but rather accepting that there are things that cannot be."

Where had Jered even learned these things? Ellena was the only one who got told important things by their parents while he took both his and her abuse from them. Things just came out when they were most needed to be said and in that moment, Nate needed to hear something.

"I-I…" Nate started. His voice was barely audible and Jered had to lean into him a little more so that he could hear. "I can imagine you being happier with some else… but I can't imagine myself being happy with someone other than you. Not after Aubree…"

"Nate… I may be running to the moon and back, but I'll always by right by your side at the end of the day." Jered promised.

With that, Nate slowly turned around as Jered let go of him, only to be pulled into Nate's arms, squishing up against his chest instead. His embrace felt so comforting and warm… Jered didn't want it to end, but Nate pulled away ever so slightly in order to look into the younger boys' eyes.

All in a second, their lips met and started to move in sync as if they had moved against each other many times before. However, because of their lips colliding, so did their bodies. The moment they met in the middle, Jered stopped feeling warm and just felt insanely hot. He felt a rush in his stomach that was generally warm and ached a little bit… and it felt good, but so unsatisfying when his body was parted from Nate's.

It got a little hard to breathe and he had to pull away before going back in, but his heart was just racing so uncontrollably that he wasn't sure if everything going on was good or bringing him closer and closer to the inevitable end they all had to face one day. He was more receptive to touch though, so he was probably fine.

At first, it was mildly distracting… but then it started to make him squirmy and he urgently wanted more than just his body pressing and rubbing against Nate's. It felt as if somewhere below his abdomen was becoming tingly and actually fairly irritating…

And Nate must've noticed because the next thing Jered knew was that his lover's hand was placed over his arousal, paying much needed attention to it. A moan escaped past his lips and he instantly buried his face in Nate's shoulder due to his embarrassment. Nate only chuckled.

"Geez, Jered… I only confessed and kissed you, but look at how far you're going…" Nate teased, gaining a shake of the head from Jered and a muffled response. However, when Nate pressed his lips against Jered's neck, the younger boy jumped unexpectedly and let out a bit of a gasp. "I don't mind."

Jered shook his head and Nate frowned as he realized that there were tears in the younger boys' eyes, making him stop immediately as he forced the older Asher to look at him.

"Tell me what's wrong, please… If you don't wa—"

"I want to!" Jered cut Nate off, nearly making the older boy jump at the raised tone. "I just don't know… If I'll be able to last… Not with, well you know, but like with… m-my emotions and stuff…"

"Why is that…?" Nate asked cautiously, worried about Jered's sudden change in mood. The younger boy took a deep breath.

"I-It's because I… Ellena and I were abused by our parents, but to save her from the abuse, I took extra… a-and because I took extra, I was abused not just physically, but mentally and emotionally… and sexually, too…" Jered explained. It was Nate's turn to have his heart drop. "I-I want to do this… I really do, but I'm not sure if I'll have to tell you to stop or not… a-and I don't want to ruin anything…"

"Hey, look at me." Nate ordered, instantly gaining Jered's attention. "You won't ruin anything, okay? We can do this and if you need to stop, then tell me right away and I promise that I will."

A moment passed and then Jered nodded ever so slightly, gaining a soft smile from Nate.

"Okay…"

* * *

 **(A/N: Uh well… Lemon-yish things start here… aha…)**

Jered held onto the back of Nate's head, tangling his fingers in the older boy's fur as he sucked the top of his erection. The thin, cold be sheets against his back made him shiver as Nate's warm mouth engulfed his entire length again, almost deep-throating.

He held himself back from thrusting his hips even though he felt such strong, sudden urges to do so and bit his bottom lip as Nate released his erection from his mouth.

"Y-You're really good at this…" Jered groaned, already breathless from all of the activity.

"I know." Nate stated proudly, nearly making Jered scoff. He would've if he could've.

Jered's finger's dug into the sheets when Nate gave his erection a few drawn out and firm strokes before latching his lips to the warm sac underneath. His breath hitched and Nate's pride swelled up even more when **_Jered started to beg_**.

 ** _Nate gave him what he wanted._**

Nate let go of Jered and let the weight of his length lay on the top of his head as he focused somewhere else, hearing Jered let out a shameful moan when he felt something wet probing at his back entrance.

"N-Nate… ~" Jered moaned, trying to control the volume although he was failing horribly.

Nate grabbed Jered's thighs and pushed him further up the bed and he helped by moving himself in the middle of it, giving no resistance when Nate spread his legs wider. Jered felt Nate's tongue retract and let out the most childish whine, making Nate almost chuckle at him. He slid a finger into his mouth, making sure to coat it in saliva properly before pushing it into Jered.

"Jered..?"

"Y-Ya—" He got cut off with his own moans as Nate pressed his finger in to the hilt, feeling his body pulse with desire as Jered tightened around the lone digit. "Y-Yaaah…?"

"Don't cum until I tell you to." Nate ordered with a serious tone. Jered moaned again and thrusted his hips into Nate's hand, panting as he let his painfully hard erection lay on his stomach.

Nate only thrusted his finger in and out of Jered at a moderate pace as he took his lover's length back into his mouth, taking only half of it as he sucked on it a little harshly. Jered got no warning when Nate took all of him back into his mouth and down his throat, moaning around his length. The vibrations teetered Jered to the edge.

"Nate, please, I can't…"

Nate hummed as he felt Jered's body starting to convulse, his hips thrusting slightly and pushing his erection further down Nate's throat, pivoting and struggling for release. When he finally finished, he let out a loud moan and he released into Nate's mouth, feeling even more pinches of pleasure as Nate swallowed as much as he could, barely leaving any behind.

As Nate disconnected from him, Jered recovered the best as he could from reaching his climax and grabbed Nate's shoulder, freezing the older boy in place.

"I'm not letting you get away without your fair share…"

* * *

Nate relished the sight in front of him.

A whimpering boy crouched on his knees before him with kiss-swollen lips wrapped delicately around his erection just as he had done moments before. He had given and now he was receiving… and damn, did it feel good. He quivered in pleasure, begging Jered to lick and suck sweetly at his swollen length to relieve his need to release.

"Jered, **_please_** …"

Jered eagerly obeyed Nate's pleas, softly licking the underside of his erection before his head moved forward slowly, delicately sucking on the tender flesh and taking in every inch possible. He let out a whine to keep from gagging and swallowed thickly, causing the older boy to groan.

"You took that so well…" He purred, breathing heavily and patting Jered on the head gently. "Jered, you're so amazi—" His words were effectively cut short by another fit of swallowing, the tip of Jered's tongue quickly lapping at the base of his erection.

Jered pulled back until only the tip remained in the warmth of his mouth, a muffled little cry sounding from him before he gave it a harsh suck. He savoured the unique flavour of Nate's precum dripping onto his taste buds, tilting his head before giving more harsh sucking actions, utilizing his tongue like a properly on the underside of the swollen head.

Nate hissed softly, fingers lacing into Jered's fur and pulling him further onto his erection, hips bucking even further into the soft warmth. Jered let out a strangled little noise but let him, bracing himself for more.

Jered was smart to do so because Nate's hips didn't stop after just one thrust, oh no… being able to fuck his good little boy's face was far too intoxicating to just stop. His hips bucked in a sloppy rhythm, moaning loudly and watching happily as his entire length disappeared into Jered's and as Jered's saliva mixed with more of his precum dripped down the younger boy's chin

Nate was shaking and Jered knew it wouldn't be much longer. He tried to suck more as Nate's hips jammed the older boy's length down his throat, licking the underside with care and anticipation. Nate moaned loudly to show his appreciation, face flushed and sweaty as he tried not to writhe at the overwhelming pleasure that was building up.

With one last cry of Jered's name it completely engulfed him, a huge shudder racking his body as he continued thrusting although more lazily, his seed squirting into the younger boy's mouth. Jered needily sucked, swallowing every single drop of the sticky white fluid and relishing the taste and feel of it sliding down his throat in appreciation.

When Nate's movements slowly died down, Jered slid his length out of his mouth, listening and Nate sighed contently at the sight, patting him on the head once more before going completely limp on the bed.

"W-We should… d-do that again… s-sometime…" Nate suggested between deep breaths, making Jered giggle a bit.

He climbed into bed beside the older boy, pulling the covers over the both of them before curling up against Nate's chest and let out a sigh of content as Nate's arms wrapped around him, pulling him closer, his body curling around the younger boys' protectively.

"I love you…" Nate mumbled, sounding a little ashamed for saying it, but it made Jered smile as he nodded drowsily, enjoying himself as he started to fall asleep in his lover's arms.

"I know." Jered stated softly, giggling at Nate's scoff. "I love you, too…"

"Good."


	5. Stress Reliever

It had been a really, **_really_** long week.

It would have been an understatement to say that Olivia was stressed. Even since Jonah had died, she had just felt completely burned out and now that James was gone as well—all she wanted to was sleep. But sadly, she couldn't just stop time to take a break and her stress just grew worse with every passing day. And now she had finally met her limit. The moment she had gotten back to the apartment she called home, she had started crying and couldn't stop.

After some time, Olivia had managed to make it to her room and ended up lying on her bed with her face smashed against the pillow. She didn't even care about trying to keep her sobbing and gasping in anymore, even if there was a chance that she could be heard easily.

It was no surprise when she heard somebody walking into the room.

"Olivia…?" A voice asked softly and cautiously.

Olivia could easily recognize it as Cass' voice, but she didn't have the energy to greet the one person she cared about the most since losing both of her best friends. She just kept sobbing against the pillow and she could hear Cass slowly walking over to her bed, sitting down beside her. A warm hand settled against Olivia's head.

"What's wrong?" Cass asked softly, carefully stroking her hand through Olivia's fur. Olivia could only whimper in reply and glanced at Cass for a mere second before burying her face into the pillow again. She didn't really want to deal with this right now and heard Cass let out a small sigh.

The bed sheets then suddenly ruffled a little as Olivia felt the younger girl flopping down on the bed next to her, pulling her into a hug. She shifted a little so that her face was now against Cass' chest and she glanced up at her ever so slightly. She couldn't really figure out how the younger girl felt about this, but her face didn't sport a happy expression.

"Everything's gonna be alright…" Cass whispered after a while, her voice cracking a little, and she pressed a light kiss to Olivia's forehead.

She started to gently wipe the tears off the older girls' face with the sleeve of her dress and kept softly brushing her lips against her forehead to comfort her. Olivia just relaxed and closed her eyes, grabbing Cass' dress to pull her closer. Feeling her chest rise and fall as she breathed comforted her so much more than she thought it would.

Soon enough, Cass wrapped her arms around Olivia and pulled the older girl as close as she could, her lips still pressing against her forehead from time to time. Slowly, Olivia pressed her hands against the younger girls' back and nuzzled her nose against her chest.

"A lot of people love you, Olivia…" Cass mumbled quietly, an anxious tone evident in her voice. Olivia had really managed to scare her and she smiled, just a little, gently running her hands across her back.

"I know…" She whispered back with a smile. Cass seemed relieved and pressed her lips against Olivia's forehead once again.

"And you know that I'll do anything to make you feel better, right?" Cass asked, glancing down at Olivia. She nodded and pressed a tiny kiss against Cass' chin.

"It's enough to just have you here…" Olivia whispered, closing her eyes and cuddling closer to Cass.

She had a feeling that Cass definitely wouldn't let Olivia leave her bed for the rest of the day, but she didn't mind at all.

* * *

Cass lunged valiantly, but Olivia still managed to keep the candy bowl out of her reach, laughing at the same time.

"You're too slow!" She chirped, popping another chocolate into her mouth. She made sure to chew slowly to add to Cass' agony.

"Aww, come on…" Cass whined, making another feeble grab for it. She was happy since Olivia was, but this was still ridiculous. "It's **_my_** candy."

"Not anymore."

" ** _Give it_**!"

"Nope."

They argued for a bit longer, but Olivia refused to give up control, so with a groan, Cass slumped back onto the couch. She turned the conversation to other topics, hoping to trick Olivia into lowering her guard, but had no such luck. Finally, after Cass' 4th foiled attempt, Olivia let out a long sigh.

"Okay, fine, I'm not without my mercy." She drawled overdramatically, pulling a small wrapped chocolate out of the bowl, eyeing Cass critically. "Do you want a kiss?"

" ** _Yes_**!"

Cass instantly thrusted out her hand for the treat and Olivia narrowed her eyes.

"You forgot the magic word."

"Yes, **_please_** …"

Olivia began to hand the chocolate to Cass, but then she darted forward and pressed a kiss to Cass' lips. Cass yelped in surprise and blushed furiously, but Olivia only laughed as she unwrapped the chocolate and slid it into her mouth.

"Sucks to be y—" Olivia started, but Cass had already clambered across the couch and grabbed Olivia's face, pulling it against hers. She kissed the older girl roughly, thrusting her tongue through her parted lips and scooping the half-melted chocolate into her own mouth.

"Take that!" Cass sneered, swallowing the candy down before anything else could happen to it. Olivia was just staring at the younger girl with her hand over her mouth and her eyes wide. "What?

Then she realized what had just happened.

Olivia cleared her throat loudly and smiled as Cass' cheeks turned a dark pink.

"Okay, lesson learned…" She chuckled, raising her hands palm-out in surrender. "I'll never get between you and your chocolate again."

"That's too bad…" Cass mumbled without thinking, causing Olivia to look over at her as she looked back. "U-Uh, I-I didn't mean it in th-that way! I-I just…"

Cass was suddenly pushed down onto the couch, Olivia's hands gentle but firm on her shoulders, and once the 2 of them landed, their mouths met once again. Cass broke apart to breathe and Olivia kissed along her jaw.

"Your fur is so soft…" She muttered ever so softly. Olivia moved down from Cass' jaw and started kissing at the juncture of her neck and jaw, nipping occasionally.

She finally reached Cass' neck and kissed it ever so gently, leaving soft, wet kisses all over it before she paused. When she leaned back in, she gently sucked on it and her teeth grazed it. Cass let out a heavy, surprised gasp and tilted her head back. The attention being given to her voice box made Cass groan softly and she guessed that Olivia liked that since she closed her eyes and subtly grinded her hips against Cass'.

Eventually, Olivia kissed her way back up, nipping some spots gently. It caused Cass to gasp and Olivia only laughed softly. Then, Olivia's mouth was on hers again and Cass wrapped her arms around the older girl's neck as the both of them rolled a little bit to change positions.

Cass ended up falling asleep on top on Olivia.

* * *

"Hey…"

Olivia moved her arm away from her eyes and smiled slightly upon seeing Cass hovering above her. For some reason, she had found a hammock in the middle of the forest while spending some time alone and it had just called to her… so, she ended up lying in the sling as it gently rocked her relaxed body.

"Hey…" Olivia greeted back softly. Cass seemed to giggle a bit.

"What are you doing with this old, random thing?" She asked, a slight chuckle to her tone.

"Well, it's a nice day out." Olivia stated. "Why waste such a beautiful day sitting around in the Guild? Plus, I needed a little bit of time to myself after taking Marcy and Micah for a walk earlier. Marcy is too hyper and Micah… I don't even know."

Cass couldn't help but chuckle because there was no way she could say no to that. That was how she found herself, with her head lying in the crevice in between Olivia's neck and shoulder as they both balanced themselves perfectly in the unforgiving hammock. Of course, it had taken quite a few falls, 3 crushed limbs, and a head butt, but that didn't matter now.

They both laid there peacefully in a calm silence, the only movement being an occasional lazy kiss, a murmured sweet nothing, or a gentle back rub from Olivia to Cass. But for the most part, there was nothing. No movement and no sound aside from Olivia's steady breathing, the tweets of the passing by birds, and the gentle rustling of the leaves above the both of them.

If Cass was to open her eyes and look above them, she could see the brilliantly crisp blue sky with a splash of a couple wispy clouds along with the rays of sunlight peeking through from behind the gently swaying leaves. If she was to close her eyes, she could feel the beams of sunlight soaking into her dark brown colored fur and into the fine threading of her clothes.

But if she was to look over at the beautiful being beside her, she would see how the radiation of the sun perfectly illuminated her fur, giving off almost a dewy finish to her features. Looking up at her, only one word could come to mind: beautiful. From the way her nose sloped, to the formation of her cheekbones, all Cass could think about was how beautiful Olivia looked, peacefully resting in the warm glow of the sunlight.

In fact, beautiful didn't even begin to describe it. Cass could go through every synonym on , yet no formation of any letters of any language could describe the intimate grace and charm that Olivia could possess. Her outer beauty, her personality, her flaws, her quirks; they all came together to form something that Cass could only describe as beautiful.

Cass grinned, knowing how lucky she was not just to be in her presence, but to be so intimately close to her. It was feelings like those that made her stomach flutter and the blood rush to her cheeks. Reaching a hand up, Cass gently rubbed Olivia's cheekbone with her thumb, which awoke her from her silent rest. She looked down at the younger girl with a lazy smile and spoke with a groggy, sleepy tone.

"Mm, what…?"

"Nothing in particular, it's just… you know that I love you, right?" Cass asked, looking up into Olivia's amber eyes and smiling in a way that could only be described as goofy. Olivia returned the silly grin.

"Of course I do…"

"And you love me?"

Olivia kissed Cass' forehead gently, smoothing down the younger girls' fur with her nimble fingers.

"Always have, always will."

Cass nodded her head slowly; quite content with Olivia's response, mostly because she knew she felt the exact same way. Resting her head once again on the older girl's shoulder, Cass closed her eyes again, allowing the gentle rustling of the leaves and the soft swaying of the hammock to place her into a light sleep, knowing that the one who she loved most of all was right beside her.


	6. Am I Really an Idiot?

Ethan tried his best, he really did. He knew next to nothing about make-up because really, why would he need to know about that? He wasn't a beautician; he spent half of his time doing jobs and all that good stuff. He knew his way around a weapon, but eyeliner? That was an entirely different story.

"Careful with that." Akina snapped at him as he tried for the fifth time to use it on her eyelashes without poking her in the eye. Her fingers twitched with the desperate urge to take it from him and just do the eyeliner herself, but he was trying his best, so bless him.

"I am being careful. Why are we even doing this?" He questioned, tongue sticking out as he moved at a snail's pace.

"We're doing this for shits and giggles."

His concentration was as intense as though he were defusing a bomb rather than simply trying to apply make-up to someone else's face, and when he was finally done, Ethan screwed the lid back on and dropped the eyeliner back into the small make-up bag, a look of relief crossing his face.

It was quickly replaced by a cocky smirk as Ethan fished into the bag for a lipstick and opened it.

"See? This is easy. I don't know why you think I can't do it."

Akina resisted the urge to stick your tongue out at him.

"Just you wait. When it's done, then you can brag."

He carefully—or, well, as carefully as someone like Ethan could manage—painted Akina's lips, then moved onto eye shadow and blush. Akina sat there, still as a statue as he worked, which was probably a good thing. After the eyeliner incident, she didn't want to have to try and explain any make-up-related injuries to random friends or family members.

Finally, after what felt like 10,000 years, Ethan stood back from her, a small grin on his face and his hands on his hips.

"Go on, take a look."

Akina grinned at him and trotted off to the bathroom to see her "look".

* * *

Whatever Ethan had expected as a reaction to his "makeover", demented hyena-like laughter didn't appear to be it. When he walked in, Akina was slumped over the sink and her shoulders shaking. Her laughter had apparently stopped simply because she just couldn't laugh anymore – instead, she was laughing so hard that she was just wheezing, tears streaming down her cheeks and cutting through the bright pink circles on them

"E-Ethan…" Akina gasped, her whole body shaking now. "Oh my fucking god, **_l-look at me_**! This is hilarious!" At this point, Akina interrupted herself and the hyena impression was back in full force. "I look like a clown! This is the f-funniest thing I've ever seen!"

And indeed, clown-like was the only way to describe the make-up. Akina had bright red lipstick smeared across her mouth where Ethan had tried his best to keep it strictly on her lips, thick pink circles on her cheeks, eyeliner drawn in a wobbly line across each eyelid, and bright blue eye shadow that made it look as though a 5 year old had managed to get hold of a crayon and used the 16 year old girl as a canvas. It complimented her icy blue eyes though.

For the next couple of minutes, Ethan stood there with his arms folded as Akina laughed herself half to death. When she finally stood up straight and wiped the tears from her eyes, she smiled at him and his expression softened. If he was really honest with himself, it was pretty funny.

"Thanks, idiot." Akina thanked him, feeling slightly bad for laughing so hard. "That was brilliant! We should do this kind of thing again sometime!"

"Well, I don't know… Don't you think I should get a reward…? And not only for being a guy, but for only having one eye…?"

Akina stood on your tiptoes and kissed his cheek, smearing it with a streak of red.

"Will that do?"

She then threw him a wink and ran off, leaving him standing there speechless. All Ethan could think was that with Akina, there was never a dull moment.

* * *

As Akina stepped into the shower, she could already feel the humidity engulfing her into a steamy bliss. Hot water pounded against her back as she stood there for a moment, enjoying the feeling of a greatly needed shower.

She felt her vocal cords soften from the steam, resisting the urge to sing her heart out. She knew that Ethan was resting in his room and she had no intention of having him eavesdropping on her stage time, especially since they were both Dragon Slayers. She knew that their hearing was better than the average person.

Against her better judgement, Akina slowly started to hum Hallelujah to herself. One thing led to another and she ended up full out singing. There was not a hint of shame in her voice as it rang out throughout the bathroom, reaching the ears of none other than Ethan.

He crept up from his resting place, making his way to the bathroom door, not wishing to be heard. As he got closer, he was able to hear Akina's voice even better. Her voice was a sweet melodic tune to his ears, making him lean against the door just to get a better sound.

A smile was plastered on Ethan's face, ear to ear. He had only heard ever heard Fate sing a couple of times before and he cherished every moment, but he couldn't help but love Akina's just as much.

While Ethan was caught up in his thoughts, he managed to miss the sound of the water turning off. The door was eventually yanked open, only for Ethan to fall right in front of Akina, hitting his head on the door as he flew with it.

"Oh my god, Ethan, what the heck were you doing!?" Akina demanded, trying to help him up.

"Um… Nothing much…" The older boy replied, rubbing his head while avoiding Akina's eyes.

"Were you… listening to my singing?" Akina asked, blood rushing to her face in embarrassment.

"I'm not even going to try and lie to you; I just love the sound of your voice. Sorry if I'm intruding though, I didn't mean any harm…"

Akina wasn't the only one who was embarrassed; Ethan's face was as red as a tomato.

"Forget about it, it's fine. Let's go get you some ice for your head and go watch something on the TV." Akina suggested, hoping to remove the awkwardness from the atmosphere.

* * *

The door closed behind Ethan after he returned from going on a walk, the lock clicking as he turned the key. It was quiet in the house as he shuffled forward, rubbing his eye before running his fingers through his hair, feeling a bit drained after everything that had happened. A single thought crossed through his mind as he started for the kitchen: where was Akina?

His question isn't answered as he entered the kitchen, just as silent as the other rooms. He tilted his head, wondering where in the world the younger girl could be when he suddenly felt something jab at his sides. Letting out a gasp, he squirmed and tried to get away from the fingers tickling his waist.

The struggle only made Akina tickle him harder. Ethan let out a laugh, still trying to pull away from her as Akina's body pressed against his, her fingers running up to his ribcage.

"Akina!" Ethan yelled, turning around the best he could to see her face. She was grinning widely, pushing her fingers harder into the older boy's clothing. Ethan's laughter filled the room. "Stop!"

"Never!"

Akina put her mouth up to Ethan's neck, blowing on it to add additional torture. Ethan started to sink down to the ground as tears beaded at his one eye. Akina followed him down, bending over to continue tickling him wherever she could reach. Ethan hit the ground, Akina's shins holding him up for a mere moment before she moved out of the way, Ethan's head lightly bumping on the ground.

She stopped tickling Ethan for a second so she could walk around to his feet and then bent over him. With her legs on either side of his, she started at the base of his hips, fingers digging into her all the way up to his shoulders. Ethan's chest ached as his laughter turned into breathless wheezing, eye clenched shut and wishing for it to stop.

As she reached his shoulders, the tickling suddenly stopped and was interrupted by her lips pushing onto his. Ethan opened his eyes as Akina pulled away a moment later, the younger girls' eyes sparkling. She held his stare for a moment before going back to kiss him again, this time harder and fierce. Ethan's childish laughter from not even a minute ago turned into quick, shallow breathing as Akina cup her hands around his face and kissed him slowly.

She pulled away an eternity later, forehead resting on his, giving him occasional pecks. Her lips were smooth yet strong against his, making him crave more every time she decided to kiss him again. Ethan didn't know how long he was on the floor for, but as Akina gave in and kissed him once more, he couldn't help but think that it didn't matter.


	7. I'll Always Be Here

**A/N: Trigger Warning for this chapter.  
It mentions depression, possibly anxiety and stress, and an attempt of suicide.**

* * *

Henkou knew something was off the first time he noticed Aaron running his finger down the blade of a knife. It wasn't even that sharp, but the younger boys' expression had worried him. He seemed oddly fascinated by the knife and had been startled when Henkou spoke to him, like he had been snapped out of a dream.

That was how Henkou started noticing that Aaron was occasionally strangely quiet. He would never talk about himself and the few times he did, it was always a self-deprecating comment that left his mouth. Whenever Henkou tried to compliment him, he waved it off with a very small, short laugh. He hid it well, but Henkou could tell that Aaron didn't believe him.

The older boy didn't know what to do. He made sure to let Aaron know that he was always there for him and that he could always talk to him, but it didn't seem like it was enough. What other choices did Henkou have, though? He couldn't just sit down with the younger Eve sibling and bring up all the things he had noticed. What if it was all his own paranoia? What if Aaron was completely fine on his own and Henkou's attempt to 'intervene' scared him away?

Henkou should have listened to himself.

Here he was now, trying to open the door standing between him and Aaron. Just seconds ago, he could hear the younger boy crying if he pressed his ear to the door. He had tried to coax him into opening the door, but the younger boy hadn't answered. Now, no matter how hard Henkou tried, he couldn't hear anything and he was panicking. What if he had actually done something? What if he had finally reached his breaking point?

After a little more pushing, the god forbidden door finally yielded and Henkou saw a chair upturned on the floor as he rushed inside, trying to find Aaron. He hadn't locked the door to the room. Had he wanted someone to come save him?

Henkou looked around worriedly. Aaron wasn't at the desk and he wasn't on the bed. He checked behind the door and he checked the closet. There was no sign of Aaron. He checked the bathroom and his heart immediately stopped. There was a bottle lying open on the floor, a few white pills scattered around it. Henkou bent down to check the bottle. In total, there were 7 pills left from a bottle of at least 25 and he cursed silently. It could be normal prescribed medication, but then again, it could've been Aaron's way out.

Henkou ran back out into the room, wondering what to do. Had Aaron jumped out the window? Had he ended up running away? He had to be in the room because he had blocked the door… but where was he? What had he done? Henkou went to the window, trying to think clearly.

It was most definitely lucky that he had.

In his panicked state, he had forgotten to check the other side of the bed. A soft sound made him turn away from the window and his gaze landed upon a figure huddled up next to the bed. There was a knife lying next to Aaron, the rest of the pills from the bottle gathered next to it. A glass was lying broken on the floor with water spilling from the cracks and Henkou swallowed as he realized the glass also had a small red stain on it.

He quietly turned to Aaron and slowly walked over, his movements nearly turtle-like. He nudged the glass out of the way and pushed it away from Aaron before he knelt down in front of the younger boy, who could definitely hear him, but didn't react.

"Aaron…?"

Henkou didn't think that the younger boy would answer, but he heard a small, muffled voice.

"You should go…"

Henkou let out a very soft sigh. As if he would ever leave Aaron alone, especially when he was in a state like this. He crawled next to the younger Exceed and sat down, leaning against the bed. He put an arm around Aaron's shoulders and gently pulled him in, tucking his head under his chin.

"I'm not going anywhere."

The clock ticked the seconds passing as he sat there, listening to Aaron's quiet breathing. Gradually, the younger boy relaxed against him. Henkou didn't know how much time had passed when Aaron finally spoke.

"I'm sorry."

Henkou was startled. The breaking of the silence was sudden, but he was more surprised by what Aaron was saying. Why was he apologizing?

Aaron buried his face in Henkou's shoulder and the older boy held him tighter as he explained everything. The feeling of worthlessness, the belief that he couldn't do anything, the loneliness, the bad dreams, the sleepless nights, the constant, constant stream of problems, everything. Everything he had been bottling up came spilling out and all Henkou could do was hold him and make sure that the younger boy knew he was there.

Slowly, Aaron's shaking became less violent and his sniffs became quieter as his tensed shoulders loosened, and he finally looked up. Henkou took the younger boys' face in his hands and gently wiped the tear tracks away before hugging him tightly, rubbing his back to help him relax.

As Henkou did that, he told Aaron everything he should've said before. He told the younger boy how important he was to him, he told him how much people cared about him, he told him everything he was admired for, he told him about all the things people liked about him. Henkou reminded Aaron of all the reasons he had to live.

"… And how do you think I'm supposed to live if you decide to pull something like this?"

That pulled a weak laugh from Aaron and Henkou smiled ever so softly down at the younger boy. Aaron looked back up at him with a worried expression on his face. Henkou held his hand and gently wiped the traces of blood from the cut on his palm. The glass hadn't cut too deep and the wound had even stopped bleeding.

"You don't have to worry, Aaron. It's all okay now."

"Henkou…? Do you think… you could stay?"

Henkou smiled more and stood up, helping Aaron up as well before sitting down on the bed, pulling Aaron down next to him. He put his arms around him and made sure that he was comfortable before kissing his forehead.

"I'll stay as long as you want me to, Aaron. I'll always be here."


	8. Sickness for Attention

Jordan woke up to the sound of coughing.

He blinked a few times to make sure that his eyes were focused before turning towards the sound. Chilled was still asleep, but he was coughing and had a red nose. Jordan laid a hand on his forehead, careful not to wake him up, and noticed that Chilled was running a slight fever. He slid out of bed to get dressed and get on with his day as much as possible. He'd see if Chilled needed anything when he woke up.

* * *

About half an hour later as Jordan was finishing a cup of hot chocolate and doing last night's dishes, he heard some shuffling and coughing from his shared room.

"Jordan…? Are you here?"

Jordan got to his feet and made his way to the room, entering slowly.

"Yah, Chilled…? Do you need anything?"

"Well, I'm kinda hungry…" Chilled replied before coughing again, rubbing his forehead. "I can't believe I got sick…"

Jordan tried not to laugh at the older boy.

"That's what you get for going out without dressing for the weather."

"I guess…"

"Did you want some tea with honey and some toast?"

Chilled just nodded and Jordan left, going back in a few minutes later with a cup of tea for each of them and the toast, including a bottle of cough syrup. Chilled looked at the bottle with disgust and Jordan nearly chuckled.

"Oh, come on. You only have to take it once today and you can drink the tea after. I only got it out because I love you."

Chilled rolled his eyes, but nodded nonetheless. Jordan measured out the appropriate dose and Chilled took it hesitantly, grimacing as he swallowed and instantly gesturing for the tea and toast. Jordan allowed himself to laugh and handed a cup of tea to the older boy. He nearly poured the tea down his shirt because he drank it so fast.

"Slow down, Chilled. You're going to burn your throat and make yourself sicker. Speaking of burning…" Jordan trailed off, checking Chilled's temperature again. "At least your fever seems to have gone down, so I only have to deal with you coughing and whining all day."

"Hey…" Chilled spoke for the first time since he had called Jordan into the room earlier. "I haven't whined yet…"

"That's true, you haven't." Jordan said before kissing Chilled's cheek. "But I know you. You will."

"Not necessarily… if I'm well taken care of, there won't be a need." Chilled stated, wrapping his arms around Jordan's waist. "And if you stay with me in bed, I won't even have to call for you."

Jordan shook his head and laughed.

"You're just buttering me up so I'll make you some Mac 'n' cheese for lunch."

"Maybe I am."

* * *

Chilled's fever had set in 2 days ago and to his dismay, it hadn't entirely broken yet. His temperature had been slowly but steadily rising and if it went on like this much longer, Jordan was beginning to think about calling Mira over. But as much as Jordan wanted him safe, he didn't want to turn the fever into a scare. So, he had been taking care of the older boy as best as he could, doing everything from feeding him by hand to bringing him extra fluffy pillows.

Today, the 3r day, Jordan had made them toast and orange juice. He knocked twice on the door just to make sure that he was awake before pushing open the door with his hip, balancing the breakfast in his hands.

"Hello, Chilled." Jordan chirped. "I made you breakfast."

In spite of Jordan's cheery tone, his heart sank when he saw Chilled's face, still pale and covered in sweat. He strode to them quickly and placed the tray in his lap. The smile Chilled gave him lifted his spirits a little.

"Thank you, Jordan…" Chilled breathed, eagerly reaching for the glass of orange juice.

Jordan watched the older boy closely as he drank; making sure that he didn't spill any on himself. As Chilled picked up the toast, Jordan exited the room and quickly ran to the bathroom, dampening a cloth with cold water. Upon re-entering the bedroom, he found that Chilled had already finished a slice of toast.

"You must have been hungry, huh?" Jordan asked with a teasing tone, sitting down beside Chilled and running his fingers softly through the older boys' hair. To do something like that was rare since Chilled usually wore his hat around all day, so Jordan cherished the feeling of Chilled's dark brown curls.

"Yah, a little bit…" Chilled responded through a mouthful of toast before tilting his head into Jordan's touch and swallowing his food.

As he started on the next slice, Jordan pressed the damp cloth to the older boys' cheeks and forehead. He swiped it carefully across his closed eyes and the bridge of his nose, cleaning away the sweat that had accumulated during the night. Usually, he would sleep in the same bed with Chilled, but he had insisted that he didn't want to risk even the possibility of Jordan catching what he had.

After Chilled finished his breakfast, Jordan took his temperature only to find that it was a degree higher than yesterday's and sat beside him, stroking and smoothing his hair. In the evening, Jordan made sure to give the older boy his medicine and made him his favourite soup as he had done the night before. When he had finished, he gave the older boy a soft kiss and then left him to rest.

The next day, Chilled's fever had broken and the day after that, he was able to get up and walk around the house. Within a week, the older boy was completely back to normal, but he had mentioned to Jordan one night after dinner that he wouldn't mind getting sick again if it meant that Jordan would pay so much attention to him as he had before. Jordan only chuckled and smiled, shaking his head a bit.


	9. Beautiful

**A/n: Might be a bit triggering in this chapter as well, so I guess... proceed with caution?**

* * *

It was another one of those days, wasn't it?

Jo stared into the mirror before her and she hated it. All of it, every bit of the reflection she saw was disgusting in her eyes. Taking a step closer to the mirror, Jo leaned in, holding back imminent tears, before wadding her right hand into a fist and she sighed, becoming broken by quiet sobs. One might rather die than look at her. Her entity held no beauty and she knew it, and she was convinced no one would ever think otherwise. Why would they? Could they not see what she saw? Of course they did…

Jo stood there, tears streaming down her warm cheeks and causing her vision to be blurred.

" ** _I'm worthless_**!"

The door began to open with a slight squeak and Jo jumped, noticing that Peter was peering in.

"Hey, Jo…" He greeted softly. Jo began to back up, trying not to scream because he had heard it all and she couldn't bear to know it. She couldn't bear to see him walk in so calmly after that.

"Y-You were listening!?" Jo managed to demand, choking out from her now distressful tears. " ** _Go away_**! I doubt you even care!"

She stood there defensively.

 _'He's going to agree with me. He's going to agree and walk out.'_

Jo couldn't help but believe that she was right. Peter frowned and his face turned slightly paler than usual.

"No. You're wrong." He stated plainly, pushing the door open all the way. He walked forward slowly, getting but maybe 5 steps from the younger girl.

"S-Stay back, please!" Jo yelled. She didn't want to hear it because whatever it was, it would be bad and she couldn't deal with the thought of Peter saying everything she had ever hated about herself. The thought of him nitpicking every single aspect about her until she broke killed her on the inside.

"Look at you…" Peter whispered with a sigh. "You've been torn to bits by a lie you fed yourself." He shook his head and looked at Jo; her face was encased in tears. "No one is as beautiful as you, or at least I've always thought so… didn't you know that?" He took a step back and breathed. "Look at yourself again; look at everything you're missing. You're funny, you're intelligent, and sure you're a bit snarky at times but look deep down… you're one of the nicest people I know. You're a loving creature at heart, I know it, and nothing will convince me otherwise… and God, you're beautiful!"

Jo stood there trying to think of something to say. Did Peter mean all of that?

"Y-You're just saying that…"

"Do you really think I'd waste my time lying about this?" Peter questioned with a frown. "Stop looking down at yourself. Every human on in this world is here for some reason. They all have a purpose, all of them… especially you. Now look back into that mirror and try to tell me otherwise. You can't."

"B-But…" Jo trailed off. She was shaking. She couldn't believe it.

"So what if you don't always meet someone else's standards? You meet plenty of other's. Every single imperfection you may have? You're beautiful, always. There is no such thing as definite perfection; the only perfection is in your perception. I think you're what perfect really is. Every little detail about you is perfect: your eyes, your fur, nose, mouth, neck—everything. Even when I listen to your voice, I fall into a trance. Stop being so hard on yourself and see how gorgeous you are. See the beauty you hold. I'm not saying this to lie to you. I'm saying this because I care about you and I want you to see what I see. Please never speak like that to yourself ever again. Promise me."

"I-I… I p-promise…" Jo muttered.

She was still crying when Peter walked over and hugged her. His grip on her was so tight that Jo thought for once that she was worth something… she felt warm inside and hugged him back.

Time stopped for a moment to gaze at the both of them and to think of how beautiful the both of them truly were.

* * *

They both crashed through the door as they giggled madly, hands flying from one position to another as they exchanged quick, light kisses.

"C'mon…" Jo tried to protest although her face was glowing and she was biting her lip, her hands still stroking Peter's upper arms. "Somebody's going to see, I swear…"

"No one is going to see, Jo…" Peter cooed in response, squeezing her hands and trailing his lips across her face.

As soon as Peter came in range, Jo captured his lips with her own, sighing with pleasure. She kissed Peter's lips over and over, slowly and lingering, rubbing the back of his neck, feeling his torso move against hers. Soon enough, Peter's tongue pushed against her upper teeth, easing her mouth open and she let him inside eagerly.

She felt Peter's arms wrap tightly around her, the texture of his lips, the soft throbbing of his tongue engulfing the space inside her mouth… if anything was paradise, it was this.

A few times, Jo thought she heard feet moving around in the hall outside, though only once did Peter let her gently push him away in fear that someone was going to walk in.

"It's all right…" Peter whispered against her cheek, rocking her slightly back and forth. He planted a firm kiss between her nose and mouth, making her jaw tremble. "It's okay."

The next kiss was tender and soothing, and Jo relaxed back into Peter's arms. Peter couldn't help but tease her, constantly leaving her lips to peck at the rest of her face—and her neck at one point, which elicited a loud squeak. But he wanted it just as badly as she did and he always returned to her mouth before it became too long.

All too soon it was time to stop, made evident not just by a glance at the time, but also by the growing frequency and volume of the noises outside. Peter seemed content enough to keep going regardless, but even so, the movement of his palms across Jo's body and the touch of his lips to her skin became slower and further apart as he reluctantly eased up.

Slowly, the both of them separated, hands trailing down the length of each others' arms until they were standing fully apart with only their fingers still entwined, not willing to let go. Jo leaned over and quickly kissed Peter again, and Peter kissed her back, but even that had to end.

"We can do this again later…" Jo promised as she released Peter's hands.

"We better be able to…" Peter responded with a small smirk, and Jo couldn't help but laugh.

And then Peter had a firm hold on Jo's cheeks and was fervently kissing her again, and this time she was the one to push through with her tongue. They remained locked like that until the doorknob finally turned.


	10. Cuddling & Spiders

It was way too early to be awake; at least it was after how late Cathy had stayed up.

It had been early in the morning before she finally turned in. It was irresponsible and she knew that since she had a job to go on in the morning after all, but it was easy to get caught up in talking to Adam for hours on end. It seemed like no matter how much time she spent with him, she still had more to say after they parted ways.

A yawn escaped Cathy's lips as she stretched with her eyes still closed as if that would stop her from having to get up, get ready, and get herself to the Guild. She finally opened her eyes, ready to slide out of bed, but she came face-to-face with Adam propped up on his elbow and gazing at her affectionately.

His lips formed a smile when her mouth dropped open slightly, not believing what she was seeing. She slowly became aware of Adam's arm that was draped over her waist and his feet that were tangled with hers. It was a wonder that he didn't wake her up when he got into the bed with her.

"Hey sleepyhead…" Adam greeted nonchalantly, reaching up to tuck a stray strand of dark brown hair behind her ear. "I didn't think you were ever going to wake up, I've been watching you for a while now."

"Wait, what…!?" Cathy's eyes flickered away from his shyly. "You were… watching me while I slept?"

"Of course, what else was I supposed to do?" Adam questioned as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"You could have woken me up, you creep! I mean, I'm glad you're here, but I have to be at the Guild soon. I can't just lie in bed today because I have a job to do, you know. We **_all_** have jobs to do."

As much as Cathy was caught off guard, Adam's presence and his proximity to her was really doing a number on her desire to get ready for her job. What she really wanted to do was let him wrap himself around her and maybe fall asleep for a while longer. Her thoughts were cut short, however.

"Actually, you can." A smirk was playing on Adam's lips as he continued to speak. "I talked to Minx and it just so happens that you weren't going to be doing much anyways, so she seemed more than willing to give you the day off when I told her how cute you look when you're sleeping."

Adam was grinning in a self-satisfied way while Cathy could feel her face turning a bright shade of pink at the thought of him cooing to Minx and the others about her sleeping form. After all, he could be very descriptive sometimes, especially when it came to her.

"I can't believe you did that…" Cathy mumbled. She did her best to feign annoyance at Adam, but she didn't stand a chance when his hand came to rest at the back of her neck, pulling her forward so that he could give her little kisses on every bit of exposed skin within his reach.

"Well, it's true…" He murmured simply, his lips now softly grazing her neck.

Cathy sighed, enjoying Adam's actions despite what he had done. He bit down gently and teasingly, making her inhale sharply since she hadn't been expecting it or the shiver that ran up her spine. She knew Adam was trying to dissipate her annoyance with him and it was working quite effectively although she would probably never admit it.

Adam leaned over her further, kissing up her neck until he reached her ear, nibbling and sighing softly. It was then that Cathy knew she couldn't hold out any longer. She was too happy to have him there to really hold any sort of grudge. She stretched her arms out for Adam and wrapped them around his neck, practically pulling him on top of her.

As if expecting her to do that, Adam aligned his lips with hers and he kissed her lightly before pulling away ever so slightly to give her a cocky grin. Cathy wrinkled her nose at this, but before she could say anything, Adam's lips met hers once again and this time, his kiss was much needier. He took his time and kissed her heavily before licking her lips, inviting her to open her mouth. Cathy obliged automatically, letting Adam dominate the kiss and feeling herself sink further into the mattress as he climbed completely on top of her.

When Adam finally broke the kiss, Cathy was completely out of breath and Adam's panting told her that he was out of breath as well. He kissed her forehead gently before sliding off of her and settling down next to her, his arms encircling her waist possessively. Adam pulled Cathy back against him and nuzzled his nose against her neck.

"Now, since I got you the day off, what do you want to do?" Adam questioned with his voice quiet since Cathy was pressed so close against him. She pondered his question for an instant, but she didn't really even need to think about what she wanted; he was already there with her.

"We can stay in bed for the whole day for all I care. You just aren't allowed to leave…" Cathy stated softly. "… Ever." She added teasingly.

Adam just pulled Cathy closer, hugging her tighter and despite the sun coming in through the drapes, Cathy felt herself getting tired in his arms. He kissed her shoulder gently as she fell back asleep to the sound of his breathing.

* * *

Sage really didn't like to fold laundry, but she understood that it was one of the many necessary evils of life. She and Yuuki were sitting on the floor of the living room of their shared apartment and both of them were performing the mundane chore before Sage looked up at the laundry basket, trying to figure out when they would be finished. She sighed and narrowed her eyes accusingly at the container when she found that it was still halfway filled with freshly-washed clothing.

She picked up another sock and began to look for the other one it belonged with in a pair. Sage frowned slightly when she couldn't find the sock's match and glanced over at Yuuki's pile of clothes to see if it was there. She gave up on finding the evasive article of clothing and went to set the stupid sock down, but a childish idea came to her mind. She paused, smiling impishly as she turned towards Yuuki.

"Hey, Yuuki!" Sage addressed the older girl, preparing her plan in her mind.

"What is it, Sage?" Yuuki asked, finishing the folding of a shirt before turning to the younger girl. "Did you find some—"

Sage cut her off with a well-timed toss of the sock, which she had thrown high enough to barely touch the ceiling. The sock had landed on Yuuki's head and was now hanging partially in her right eye. Sage grinned and started to laugh at the sight before Yuuki pulled the sock off of her head, tossing it back onto Sage's pile of clothing, smiling at her actions.

"Hey now… just because something is boring, that doesn't mean that we need to throw things." Yuuki teased playfully. Sage rolled her eyes and was about to respond when the dryer went off, signalling the end of its cycle. She quickly stood up and grabbed the basket, dumping the clothing into her pile.

"I'll empty the dryer, Yuuki!" Sage called over her shoulder as she walked to the laundry room.

"Alright, just don't forget to clean out the filter!" Yuuki responded.

Sage made an affirmative noise and then reached the laundry room, opening up the door with one hand before plunking the basket down on the ground. She squatted down and opened up the dryer, removing the filter to peel off the lint and fuzz.

Unfortunately, she wasn't very well balanced in that posture and nearly fell back onto her bottom. She shot a hand out to keep that from happening and wound up focusing on the floor near her hand. She spaced out for a few moments until she caught notice of movement near her hand. She focused on it for a moment and frowned before said frown turned into a look of horror as she registered exactly what it was.

Sage bolted upright and shrieked because **_it was a spider_**.

She heard footsteps pounding hurriedly towards her as Yuuki skidded to a stop in the doorway.

"Sage, what's wrong!?" Yuuki demanded, worry pasting itself across her face and within her voice.

Sage only pointed mutely at the arachnid on the ground and Yuuki sighed upon finding the spider, grabbing a nearby sheet of paper. Sage shuffled out of the way as Yuuki scooped the spider up onto the paper, opened the window, and released it into the outside world again.

"You could've just killed it, you know…" Sage mumbled as Yuuki closed the window and put the paper back.

"I know, but I just cleaned these floors yesterday and spiders don't need to be crushed every time, Sage." Yuuki replied, laughing softly. She then turned towards Sage and wrapped her arms around the younger girl for a quick hug.

"Sorry for scaring you, Yuuki…" Sage apologized.

"No, no, it's fine. You just act a bit silly sometimes." Yuuki giggled, quickly kissing Sage's cheek to help calm her down. "Anyways, I don't think those clothes are going to fold themselves."

Sage groaned exasperatedly while Yuuki laughed a bit, walking back towards the living room to finish the laundry.


	11. Something In The Air

**A/N: Rated M for the end of this chapter…  
Also, again, this could be slightly triggering…**

* * *

Ruri lied awake in bed.

It was the early hours of the morning and she had spent the night trying to fall asleep, but to no avail. The thoughts crossing her mind prevented her from falling into slumber no matter how much she tried to suppress them. Every one of them seemed to keep on resurfacing as she closed her eyes. It made her heart feel heavy and she tried every now and then to stop herself from forming tears.

The past week or so hadn't been great for her. If anything, she didn't know what to feel. Nothing seemed of interest, she barely went out, and she didn't feel any need to tend to herself. She wasn't even sure at this point as to what she was upset about as she just lied there in bed. It started off with one negative thought that she believed brought on her gloomy days, but then different scenarios and thoughts, all from different times and of different subjects, started to appear. She deduced it was because once she started with one negative thought the rest would follow suit.

It was a cruel game of follow the leader.

Ruri didn't even want to sleep when Rory helped her get ready for bed. A part of her just wanted to stay awake, waiting for something, anything to make her feel better than she did. However, she knew it wouldn't be good for her health if she started skipping sleep. Although, did she even care about that anymore?

Waking up hadn't been any different. She would just wake and remain in bed until some kind of motivation convinced her to get up. She didn't even want to wake up. She only got up because she knew that Rory would notice something wrong and she didn't want to worry him. She had already lied to him, saying that she was just tired when in truth, she just felt like there was no point in moving. She didn't want to know if he fell for it or not.

Another thought crossed Ruri's mind, one that jabbed at her existence and worth. Her eyes began to fill with tears, but she made no effort to wipe them away. It was pointless now. They spilled out when she blinked and she gripped her pillow tighter, focusing on the questions that mocked her, trying to find a reason for everything bad she felt about herself. She wanted to sob, but she didn't want to disturb Rory, who was sleeping soundly behind her.

The pillow was growing damper by the minute as tears kept falling down Ruri's cheeks. She inched her head back slightly to get a dry spot, but she still kept weeping. It wasn't long until her nose began to clog up. Breathing started to become difficult as she refused to open her mouth in case she would succumb to wailing. She reached her tipping point when her nose began to leak and she sniffed. She then let out a shaky sigh, albeit quietly, as she squeezed her eyes shut. It failed to stop her from crying. It failed to stop the thoughts from cramming her mind. She sniffed again.

A sudden shift on the bed behind her brought Ruri back to reality. At first, she just thought that Rory was changing position in his sleep…

"Ruri…?"

His voice was soft and Ruri could hear some worry in it.

 _'Crap… I woke them. They heard me…_ ' was all Ruri could think. She held her breath for a bit in order to try and silence herself, and briefly cutting off air seemed to help hold her back from sobbing aloud. Ruri thought that if she stayed silent, Rory would assume that she was asleep and he was only dreaming of her quietly weeping.

Rory was not convinced and Ruri felt something touch her arm.

"Hey, Ruri, are you okay?"

Ruri could tell that Rory was concerned. The past few days, he had been checking up on her more often than normal. She had decided, since she wasn't getting any sleep since Rory was awake now, that maybe she could try to talk to him. She turned her body around to face him and although it was still dark in the room, Rory could faintly see that Ruri's cheeks were soaked and that she had a look of sadness on her face.

He looked at her, but he said nothing. Ruri knew that he was waiting for her to be ready to tell him and so many things rushed back into her head that she realized, in the brief moment when Rory made contact with her, she had forgotten the negative thoughts.

Ruri's face scrunched up a bit as she began to cry, a bit more openly this time. Rory moved his hand up to her face and began to gently wipe the tears from her cheeks and eyes before finally scooting closer. He rested an arm around her waist as she began to move closer to him, hugging him tightly with her face pressed against his chest as she started to make more audible sobs. Rory began to rub her back in slow circles in an attempt to comfort her.

A few minutes passed and Ruri was just staring into Rory's soaked shirt. Neither of them said a word, but the silence was comforting. Rory still held her, still gently stroking her back, and with the soothing motion, comforting silence, and her head feeling worn out from all that crying, Ruri soon found herself being lured to sleep.

Ruri stirred a bit as she began to wake up. She was greeted by Rory's chest, his shirt now dry after the night before. Rory was still asleep, which was evident by his steady breathing and silence, and Ruri realized neither of them had changed position throughout the remainder of the night. Both of them still had an arm loosely around each other's waist.

What really occurred to Ruri, however, was that she felt content. For once, everything felt at peace. Her mind felt clear. She didn't know how long the feeling would last, but as she sighed blissfully, she felt as if it wasn't worth worrying about for now. She snuggled her head into Rory's chest, thankful for him being there and just glad to finally let something out.

* * *

Rory had never considered himself the exceptionally kinky type.

Being in a relationship with Ruri, it was natural that they'd experimented in bed; all couples did. And though they had yet to have bad experience, per say, they hadn't quite had one that stuck out either. He'd written it off as maybe they were just destined to be a completely vanilla couple. Maybe it was just him. Maybe he just wasn't the kinky kind. It was something he'd resigned to and was okay with.

So it was with great surprise that Rory had found himself where he was.

* * *

Ruri had allergies.

For the entirety of the last week or so, Rory had been watching the tissues in the apartment disappear at an alarming rate seemingly correlated to Ruri's progressively reddening nose. But even with Rory's many trips to the nearby store for more Kleenexes, it was highly unlikely that Ruri would admit to the obvious conclusion Rory had arrived at awhile ago. Every time he even remotely offered to pick up a medication or nasal spray on one of his expeditions, he was met with a weak glare and a stern reminder.

"I don't have allergies."

Rory would always sigh.

"Are you sure? I could just pick up a—"

Then, with another glare and a sniffle…

"It's just something in the air."

But that wasn't what had him on edge, oh no… what had him on edge was himself; thinking about how Ruri would look, red nosed and shiny eyed, staring up at him as he pinned her down. And what caused this?

It was the way Ruri's entire body would suddenly tense against him while they watched a movie. The way her shoulders would tighten and stay that way until she was sure that particular fit was over. The way Ruri would jump and press into his shoulder completely and wholeheartedly for a few seconds before apologizing and going back to her normally reserved, if somewhat stubborn, demeanour.

Of all the fucking weird things he could be into, it was the sneezing that got to him. It was the **_sneezing_** that caused his crotch to twitch and his mind to wander… and Ruri sneezed a lot.

Ruri's insistence on refusing a more permanent solution to the sneezing was only making it that much harder on Rory. Ruri was probably insecure about her allergies and she had made it clear that she didn't feel overly attractive right now either. Rory was **_trying_** to respect the younger girls' feelings; but that didn't stop his crotch from taking over his brain and imagining what that sudden jump would feel like in certain situations.

And so, a week or so of odd fantasies and sneaking off to the bathroom had accumulated into extreme sexual frustration in the young man, not at all helped by Ruri's sneezing fits becoming more and more frequent. Sexual frustration had turned into lust that flared with every little high-pitched sneeze that racked poor Ruri's figure… and lust had brought Rory to where he was now; tongue and fingers buried deep in Ruri as she moaned and dug her heels into his shoulders.

"A-Ah! Rory—!"

"Mmhmm…" Rory hummed, sending vibrations that pulled another moan from his lover. He was focused on scissoring his fingers and opening Ruri for something much bigger when he heard Ruri sniffling again.

He hadn't meant to do it here. He hadn't entered the kitchen with plans on caging Ruri against the wall and kissing down her neck. He hadn't planned to mute her weak protests of "No, I'm gross right now!" and "I'll get you covered in germs." with a deep kiss, propping his ever-attractive Ruri on the counter and forcing her to lie back. He hadn't meant to do this on the one day that everyone else was out doing something.

He had only meant to refill the popcorn bowl and let Ruri focus on her glass of water; but then that cute, little sound he had come to be familiar with hit his ears and the last week or so rushed into his head before he could stop himself.

Looking up at his red-faced lover, Rory's eyes flashed as she tried to cover her mouth with her arm. Quickly, his tongue slipped out of Ruri along with his digits, only to immediately plunge back in as deep as he could.

Ruri's eyes widened immediately, a cry ripping from her throat as she buried both of her hands in Rory's white fur. Seconds later, a sneeze shook her frame and Rory moaned, eyes slipping shut as he felt Ruri tighten around his tongue for an instant. Immediately, he could only think of what that tightness would feel like around a much more… private place.

Ruri was panting between tiny sniffs when Rory pulled away from their lower region entirely, a low groan at the new lack of warmth being the only break in her breathing. Rory's eyes raked over the aroused form of Ruri in front of him, taking in the way she tensed as a small flurry of sneezes ripped through her. The heat in his groin made itself remembered as he fumbled to undo his pants as fast as possible.

Ruri peeked up at her boyfriend, swallowing thickly.

"Wh… What's gotten into you…?"

Rory stopped the process of freeing his member from the increasingly more uncomfortable confines of his pants to look up at Ruri. A much more sincere emotion filled his eyes as he leaned over to kiss her lips softly and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"It's just you being as fucking sexy as always."

Ruri gasped and buried her face in his neck at the bold statement and Rory felt a prideful smirk work its way over his lips as he noticed a soft heat against his neck, adjusting Ruri in his arms one last time. Once more, he worked a pair of fingers into Ruri, using his other hand to slip a condom onto his erection. Another small sneeze came out of Ruri and Rory couldn't wait anymore.

Ruri scratched long, red welts across his bare back, moaning as he entered her. The movement was slow, but rougher than it was usually don't at. Ruri didn't seem to mind though, letting small noises of pleasure fall past her lips. Rory was entranced by the warmth, pressing soft kisses to the side of Ruri's head. His hands massaged her back and he started to move. Slow, shallow thrusts had Ruri mewling and shakily breathing Rory's name into his shoulder.

Rory groaned because everything felt so good. The fingernails in his back, the heat around him, the feeling of Ruri's sweat covered skin against his… but he needed more and as if on cue, Ruri started to tense, clumsily moving a hand to cover her mouth. That same burn in Rory's gut flared and he quickly pulled out almost completely; slamming back in as rough and fast as possible.

Once again, Ruri cried out, getting halfway through her yelp before disintegrating into a flurry of sneezes. Rory groaned again, his eyes squeezing shut as he moved against the sudden tightening of the walls around him as he held Ruri as close to his chest as he possibly could.

Loud panting was all that filled the small space. Ruri was sheepishly rubbing her boyfriend's shoulders, listening to his heavy breathing against her ear as she waited for him to continue.

"Why did you stop…?" She mumbled, shifting her hips a bit for encouragement. Rory moaned from oversensitivity. Something felt… Ruri's eyes widened. "D-Did you… already…?" A shaky nod against Ruri's shoulder was the answer and a new bright flush immediately rose across Ruri's face.

"Did… Did I cause th-that?"

Rory pressed a sloppy kiss to Ruri's temple.

"… I'm sorry."

Ruri sneezed twice, hiding her nose in her arm. Rory made a low noise at the return of the tense feeling around him. How could he already be getting hard again…? It didn't go unnoticed by Ruri. Feeling bolder, she bucked against Rory, laughing quietly between another sneeze at the throaty sound the action ripped from his throat.

"It's fine…" Ruri mumbled, pulling back a bit to look at Rory. He met her gaze sheepishly; still embarrassed at the fact he'd finished so early and was almost ready for more as they spoke. Ruri was smiling embarrassedly too, red nose and all as she ran her teeth over her bottom lip. Another tiny sneeze made Rory swallow another aroused noise and Ruri nearly broke their gaze.

"That… you… that's kinda hot…"

Rory deadpanned before started to laugh loudly. Ruri followed suit and mixed laughter filled the apartment. Maybe he wasn't the only one turned on by something weird. Focusing back on Ruri, Rory pressed a big, sloppy kiss to her lips before she could sneeze on him.

"Nothing's as hot as you."

Ruri grinned, blushing as she looked at him.

"Seriously… What's up with you?"

Rory pulled out a bit, pushing back in as Ruri moaned in response and clung to him again. He smiled, too, nuzzling her neck and setting a fast pace as Ruri sneezed again.

"Must just be something in the air."


	12. Scissors: Get-Together

Krystal really didn't like scissors. Either that or they didn't like her. Whichever was true, Krystal resolved to never go near a pair of scissors ever again.

"Hey, Krystal…" Janiyah came strolling into the room, lazily twirling her small pocket knife with her fingers. "Do you want to—oh my god, **_are you bleeding_**!?"

"Uh… yes…?"

Janiyah immediately dropped her pocket knife and ran into the bathroom, coming back not even a second later and asking Krystal to hold out her arm. As soon as she did, Janiyah smeared antiseptic over the wound. The disinfection of Krystal's cut made her cringe at the stinging pain.

"Well, you'd make a great nurse…" Krystal sneered. "I bet you know how to distract kids when they need to get a shot for some new virus strain."

"You are remarkably calm, considering you're probably going to die!" Janiyah snapped, her hands hovering over the injured area, suddenly unsure of what to do next.

"Are you serious? It's just a scratch those stupid scissors gave me…" Krystal sighed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not gonna die."

"We don't know that! We haven't checked if they're rusty or something."

"I'll tell you what those scissors are. They're clinically ill with scissor syndrome. It involves being an asshole to me, apparently. Count yourself lucky."

"Don't be sassy." Janiyah scolded.

"Maybe it's the effects of the scissors. Maybe it's scissors rabies or something. Stage one is being an asshole; so, basically, I'm becoming a pair of fucking scissors. The next stage is me confessing my inner desires to you in an attempt to remain as an Exceed."

Janiyah smiled despite herself and gently unwrapped a gauze band.

"You've already told me that you're into girls, as if that was a big deal."

"It was to me. I mean, it still kind of is. I trust you with a lot of things."

"What else would you trust me with?"

"Uh… I dunno." Krystal replied with a shrug. "Maybe that I like you."

Janiyah froze and looked up at Krystal, visibly shocked by the sudden news.

"I-I meant—" Krystal stammered out before cutting herself off, waiting for the other girl's reaction.

"Wait, seriously?" Janiyah questioned softly. Krystal grimaced and averted her gaze, feeling her face starting to burn. "I mean, like, you kinda act like you like me—"

"Right, yah…" Krystal chuckled awkwardly as Janiyah continued to wrap the gauze around her arm. "Am I that transparent?"

"You kinda are… but I guess that if you're transparent, I'm crystal."

Krystal hesitantly glanced at Janiyah again. The other girl's face was redder than hers.

"Why, do you have something to tell me or was that just a joke considering my name?"

"Uh, well…" Janiyah giggled and finally looked up at Krystal. This time, Krystal held her gaze, already knowing what she was gonna say. "I like you, too."

"Well, that makes things a lot less awkward."

"Krystal…!"

"What? It does. And you bandaging my arm up was totally unnecessary, but I think it's okay. I think it's stopped bleeding now." Krystal said, letting out a laugh as she cradled her arm like it was in a cast. "Thanks…"

"Of course… and I'm glad you're not, you know, dying."

"How can I repay you?"

A thought crossed Janiyah's mind, but she didn't dare to say a word out loud and Krystal let out a soft groan.

"Seriously…? Immediately, you go from like fluff to smut. You're basically like a poorly written—"

"Krystal."

"What?"

"Look at me."

Oh fuck. Janiyah waited patiently only a few inches from Krystal's' lips, her eyes flickered down and back up, glazing over. Their mouths met moments later and Janiyah hesitated, feeling unsure. She pulled back for a moment.

"Was that okay—"

"Shut up and kiss me…" Krystal breathed and kissed Janiyah again.

* * *

It had been a while since Krystal got to hang out with her younger brother and after she heard about what he tried to do from Henkou, she decided that it was best if they spent an afternoon together.

Janiyah had been nice enough to offer to cook for her and Aaron while Krystal entertained him at the dining table. The reason for that wasn't just because she felt bad for what happened, but also so Krystal didn't have to spend money. Krystal was honestly grateful for it.

When Janiyah returned from the kitchen with a plate of their favourite dishes for each of the both of them, they all started eating before Janiyah wanted to ask something.

"So, uh… You've both known each other for, technically, ever… right?"

"We're old teammates of a sort, Y'know?" Aaron replied as he nudged Krystal's shoulder, causing her to chuckle… However, Janiyah stopped chewing for a moment.

"Huh."

As Aaron went on, Janiyah grew increasingly attentive to any physical contact between the pair of siblings until they noticed that they were being stared at.

"Janiyah, you're scowling."

Janiyah hadn't noticed and was brought to attention, fixing her posture in an almost apologetic manner, soon wondering why she had done that.

"So? What's wrong with that?"

Krystal sighed and asked to be pardoned from the table before pulling Janiyah aside to where her younger brother couldn't see or hear them.

"If you have something to say, say it."

"I just don't like how all… touchy-feely he's getting with you. I know that he's your brother and it's stupid, but just… It's making me uncomfortable. I don't know…"

Whether she cared about it or not, Krystal found it rude of Janiyah to just stare at the both of them without even asking to talk to her about it.

"You could just let me know. I'm not gonna bite you over it."

"I know… Can I have a hug?"

"Sure."

As they were hugging each other, Krystal felt Janiyah move to suck on her neck sensually. It made her tingle and squirm a bit before suddenly; she felt a painful clenching of teeth.

"OW!"

With a wet pop, Janiyah detached her mouth and whispered.

"Mine."

Krystal felt a mix of anger, arousal and bliss as Aaron called for them from the dining table.

"Are you alright!?"

"Yeah, I'm fine!" Krystal shouted back hazily. Janiyah smirked.

"Yes, you are…"

And with that, Janiyah picked Krystal up and carried her to the living room bridal-style. Krystal had to look away because she was embarrassed and with her hand poorly trying to cover up her hickey. It wasn't because she paid any attention to being marked by Janiyah and it wasn't that Aaron minded when he figured it out; it was just… well… It was an awkward get-together, she guessed.


	13. Productivity

Sitting on her bed, Akina sighed in frustration at the fact she had managed, yet again, to mess up the braid that she was trying to do. Why on earth was this so difficult? Normally, she could do it with no problem, but today for some reason, her hair just seemed to be getting tangled around her fingers and just wasn't cooperating at all.

Ethan then walked into the room.

"Are you ready yet?" He asked. Tilting her head up to look at him, Akina shook her head as she raked her fingers through the remains of the failed braid. Ethan smiled slightly as he moved to sit on the bed next to her. "Here, let me help."

Gently, he took the hair brush from her and started to comb out her hair before, by what must've been magic, he started to easily braid her hair. Akina was mystified for a moment by fact he could do that so easily for her. It made her smile as a small rush of warmth filled her. He used her hair elastic to finish it off before moving around in front of her, kissing her forehead.

"There. Now come on or we're going to be late."

* * *

"Scoot over and gimme your foot."

"My foot…?"

Ethan looked up at Akina questioningly from his spot on his bed. He had been so focused in his book that he hadn't even noticed that she had left the room and then returned within a matter of minutes.

"Yes, your foot."

"What? Why?"

Akina had been acting sneaky all day and he wasn't entirely sure why, but if it had something to do with feet… She wasn't planning on starting a tickle war again, was she?

"Because!" She replied with a small smile. "Okay, fine, both feet, but one at a time." She was holding her hands behind her back and was clutching a nail kit tightly in light-hearted excitement. "I've got plans."

"Plans…?"

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

"Uh-huh… What'll be fun, exactly?"

"Scoot down and gimme your foot so I can show you."

Ethan huffed, but he nonetheless obliged, moving to the edge of the bed and putting his book aside. Akina hopped off and pulled a chair up from the corner of the room that she had previously grabbing from the dining room, plopping down in it and pulling one of his feet into her lap.

"Akina…"

"Yeah…?"

"What is that?" He questioned, pointing at the nail kit.

"You'll see!"

It only took him a minute longer, not even, to figure out what the younger girl was planning and when he figured it out, he let out an audible sigh.

"Really…?"

"Yes, really, just roll with it. Your nails are going to be fabulous."

Ethan muttered something under his breath, but didn't make any moves to prevent Akina from her task. Instead, he watched with growing interest and found himself more than just a little impressed at how expertly her fingers moved to sponge on the paint, add thin stripes, and move to the next toe, returning only when the paint dried to brush over it with a coat of polish sealant. In fact, he became so engrossed with how pretty the end product was that he didn't notice that she had finished until she pulled him from his thoughts with a small laugh.

Apparently, she had painted up both feet and noticed him admiring her work. Not that he minded, really. No, as a matter of fact, he wouldn't mind having it done more often.

"Akina…"

"What's up?"

"I never knew that you were so girly."

"Aww, well, thanks."

"Actually…" He paused.

"Actually what…?"

"Actually, I think I want to learn to do that, but I wasn't paying enough attention."

Akina chuckled because she knew what he was really after.

"Alright, Ethan, I tell you what. When this starts chipping, let me know and I'll do another."

"I'll hold you to that."

* * *

It had been a while since Fate had been able to wake up on her own time, without the use of an alarm or having her kids either yelling or doing something stupid.

Fate blinked sleepily at the sunlight seeping through the sheer curtains, looking up at the clock on the wall to see that the time read 11:38 am – wow, she had really slept in. She let out a heavy sigh, setting her head back down on the pillow for a moment before moving to push herself up and out of the comfortable bed, but she was suddenly stopped by a pair of arms wrapping around her waist gently and pulling her back down, straight against Destiny's chest.

She let out a light laugh as she felt him press his face into the back of her head, smiling a little bit into her fur.

"Good morning…" He mumbled softly, his voice sleepy as he snuggled further into Fate… or rather, snuggled her further into him.

"Good morning…" She replied just as softly, reaching around her body and behind her to scratch behind his ear.

It might have been little odd because it reminded her of giving a pet a head rub, but she knew that he loved the sensation. He leaned into her touch and kissed the palm of her hand softly, making her giggle slightly. She let out a soft sigh of content, letting herself be held for a second by the warm, still half-asleep creature she had slowly came to introduce to people as her fiancé. He was always clingy in the morning – which was both a bad and good thing.

But Fate was awake now, having blinked the sleep out of her eyes… Reluctantly, she tried to move out of bed to get up and start her day, but even between states of consciousness, Destiny had a vice grip. He made a soft sound of protest, in which Fate responded to with a small sigh.

"Destiny, we gotta get up."

"Noooo…" He whined, drawing out the syllable and holding his fiancée tighter for emphasis. "We never have days like this… Enjoy it…"

"The morning is almost over, you dork."

"So, let's savour the rest of it…"

Fate prided herself on being able to burn through tasks when she was left to her own devices, and could even say that she was a _**very**_ productive person more often than she was not, so long as she knew what she wanted to get done – but the boy cuddled up against her back made all of that very, _**very**_ difficult.

She decided that she could be ticked off at any other time, especially when she twisted around halfway to look at him as best as she could and seeing his peaceful, sleeping face that made her sigh again. She manoeuvred herself around so that she was laying on her other side, now facing him, and crawled back into his embrace.

She smiled a bit upon hearing and feeling his contented sigh through his chest, rising and falling. He could be sweet any other time, but he was especially sweet in the morning. Today, the both of them were just a tangle of limbs and sheets, having done nothing for almost half of the day, but Fate didn't think she could be more at ease. His breathing started to slow and when Fate looked up, Destiny was fast asleep again. She suppressed a fond giggle into a smile and leaned up to kiss him gently on the lips before snuggling back down into his embrace.

Productivity could wait so that their happiness could last as long as possible.


	14. Small Fight, Big Consiquence?

Fate wasn't sure if it was cold outside because of the weather or if the temperature has something to simply do with the sinking feeling she had been stuck with since she went to sleep last night. Nothing was wrong for once in her life, but everything just felt… off to her. The slight breeze didn't help, it just made her more anxious as the day started and continued on ever so slowly.

No one else seemed effected like she was. They were all just as energetic as they were nearly every day and everyone was coming in, and going out, as they finished and took jobs continuously. Hell, it was almost the middle of the afternoon and no one seemed slightly off or bothered like she was. There was no reason to be… at least, she hoped that there wasn't.

It could've just been a feeling or perhaps a small tummy ache that was making her a little anxious. It could've been the fact that her injuries were finally settling and that she was slowly gaining consciousness of everything about her and around her again. It could've also been because she had just found out that Marcy had slain a bunch of vampires during the war, in which allowed her to gain some new abilities. Fate wasn't mad or anything, considering that Marcy was fine, but the fact that her youngest daughter had technically killed before she even turned a year old just kinda… felt messed up.

Unfortunately, she wasn't feeling slightly off because of any of those reasons. It was because Abygale had gotten into an argument with her earlier and ran off because of it. Fate believed that she was okay, after all, she could take care of herself, but that didn't stop her from worrying. Even though she and Abygale communicated through magic items, the little girl had yet to call her back after so many times that she had called her.

And here she was, trying once again to make contact with her surrogate daughter through a magic item line only they had.

"Hey, Abygale, it's me… again. Listen; call me back when you get this, okay? It's going to get dark soon, just… Come to the Guild, alright? We had a fight; let's talk about it… just… Call me back." Fate begged softly before putting the magic item aside as Krystal sat beside her, which usually didn't happen nowadays. Since she was outside, she didn't think anyone would sit beside her… yet, one of her best friends had found her.

"Are you having a bad day?" Krystal asked, gaining a small sigh and a nod from Fate.

"You could say that…" She replied before admitting to the situation. "Abygale and I are fighting." She paused for a moment before taking a deep breath and waving a hand. "It's just a bump! We'll get over it."

There were a couple moments of silence before Fate's little item started to make noise, which meant that Abygale was calling her back. She immediately picked it up, hoping to hear Abygale's voice.

"Hello?" She asked, expecting an answer. When she didn't hear one after a moment, she repeated herself. "… Hello?"

 _"… Mom…"_ Abygale's voice replied, very softly and weakly. Fate didn't think anything about it because things had been rough lately and the young girl had called her Mom before, but only at a desperate time.

"Hey, sweetheart, I'm here… but we really shou—" Fate cut herself off to listen more closely, hearing what sounded like Abygale whimpering in pain. It was simple at first, but it got worse and a little louder, which started to scare Fate a lot. "Abygale…?"

 _"… H-H-… Help… me…"_

Fate immediately really scared and really worried, and she pulled her knees to her chest as her eyes started to cloud up from tears. What was wrong? Why did she sound like she was in pain, was she?

"A-Abygale, say that again…" Fate mumbled, remaining loud and clear enough for the younger girl. If she was in trouble, Fate wouldn't hesitate to go and help her, but she needed some information of her location and the state that she was in first. The younger girl, still making little gasps and whimpers of pain, tried to reply.

 _"I… I can't…!"_ She breathed out heavily through her whimpering.

"Abygale, talk to me, where are you?" Fate asked, trying not to cry although she was starting to fail in not doing so.

 _"… Don't know… I'm stuck… It hurts, Mom!"_ Abygale suddenly yelled, obviously in pain by now. She was screaming and gasping painfully over the line, and was crying because of it.

"Abygale, what happened…?"

Fate started crying, trying to listen to her surrogate daughter although her emotions were everywhere. Abygale was out there somewhere, injured and in pan, and the only connection she had was to her "Mother", who didn't know anything about the situation despite the basics.

 _"I… don't know… Mom… I'm scared!"_ Abygale cried, starting to sob.

"Alright, alright… Abygale, listen to me, you're gonna be fine. You're gonna be okay, but you gotta tell me where you are so I can come get you. Focus and tell e what you see, okay?" Fate asked, trying to keep her voice from shaking. Hell, her whole body was just absolutely shaking mercilessly.

 _"… It's dark… It hurts, Mom… Please…!"_ Abygale begged, letting out a small scream that made Fate let go of a sob, but she bit her lip and held onto the rest of them, making an affirmative sound to ask Abygale to keep going. There had to be more. _"… It's… cold and… wet… Th-There are rocks…"_

"Good! That's good, Abygale! I'm coming to get you, okay? Are you by that river you, Micah, Marcy and Ellena like to go to sometimes?" Fate asked, finally happy to have some information. However, her happiness was shattered when she didn't hear a reply from the other side. "… Abygale? … Abygale, talk to me!" There still wasn't an answer and Fate didn't know what to do. " _ **Abygale**_!"

"Hey, hey…!" Krystal was suddenly there. Fate could see her and hear her, and she knew that tears were running down her face. "It's okay, Fate. I'm going to go get the others and we'll all search for Abygale together, okay?"

"I-I'm going ahead! I have to go! I have to get her!" Fate said, leaving no room for Krystal to argue… and she didn't. She nodded and helped her younger friend get to her feet before patting her on the back and running into the Guild to get the others.

Fate immediately summoned her wings and didn't hesitate to fly off in the direction that Abygale was in. She had to be there, she wouldn't have gone anywhere outside of Magnolia except for there and even then, that wasn't very far from the city. It didn't even take that long, especially with Fate flying as fast as she was. The moment she landed, dispelling her wings, she started to run, staying alert for anything and everything that she could possibly find.

"Abygale! _**Abygale**_!?" She called out before stopping, grinding her teeth together irritably. "Shit, she could be anywhere…"

She paused before getting an idea, pulling out her magic item again and once again, she was the one calling Abygale. She hoped and prayed that her plan would work; spending moments just listening silently for any little sound… and then she heard it. The small little sounds that Abygale's magic item made were going off and Fate followed them, only to be stopped by a small cavern…and a huge drop.

She didn't want to believe it and she hesitated before calling once more, praying to anyone who might be listening that she had just heard wrong. She hadn't… but she wasn't going to give up now. Another little tone went off in her back pocket, momentarily scaring her before she realized that it had just been Krystal's handiwork, slipping a magic item with a line connecting between them in her jean shorts.

Although Fate didn't really want to, she picked up anyways, immediately hearing Krystal's voice on the other side.

 _"Fate, did you find her?"_ Krystal asked from over the line, which made Fate let out a little whimper.

"… Yes… Sh-She's at the bottom of a cavern… I can't even see down there…" Fate replied before letting out a deep breath. "Oh my God… I think she fell…"

 _"_ _ **Don't go down**_ _._ _You don't know what's down there."_ Krystal told her, but Fate just gave her a distressed sound.

"I can't wait that long, Krystal!"

 _"We're coming, Fate. Tell me where you are."_

Fate took a deep breath, trying not to just break down right then and there.

"I-I can't really tell, but I'm near… near that river, just ask Micah and Marcy or Ellena, they'll know where to go. I-I can see the river, but I'm a little further… You'll find me, I know you will." She stated, the tone of her voice dropping into both a helpless one and one that was obviously telling that she was about to take a risk.

 _"Fate, you're going to exhaust your magic power! Don't go down there!"_ Krystal told her, sounding desperate to keep the younger girl safe unlike Abygale probably was… but Fate couldn't do what she wanted her to.

"I'm sorry… I just can't wait that long." She apologized.

Before Krystal could even say her name fully again, Fate hung up and waited for a moment, taking a deep breath. She had to do this.

"I'm coming, Abygale."


	15. Her Head & Her Eyes

It took Fate maybe a total of 3 minutes at the max to get down the cavern without exhausting her magic power. It was dark and kind of scary to her, honestly, but she was able to use the Key of Jade as a flashlight-type-thing, just like back in that other cave about a month or so before.

At first, she couldn't find anything, but when she walked forward a bit and took a look around, she was able to see something… which was Abygale's tiny arm sticking out from underneath a pile of rocks. She couldn't stop herself from letting out a shriveled scream.

" _ **Abygale**_!"

She immediately ran forward, starting to move the rocks away as she sobbed. She couldn't hold it in anymore. This was her surrogate daughter. The little girl who tried to save her from dying… Fate felt like she should've been here to save the young girl from the pain she was being put through.

Eventually, she was able to grab Abygale and pull her out of the pile, holding the little girl in her arms. She was happy that she seemed relatively okay, but when she looked at the little girl's face… she had to move away before she lost her stomach all over her. She ended up emptying it a couple of feet away, starting to sob again as she slowly moved back, gently patting Abygale's head, her fingers running delicately through the lilac fur.

And then she called Krystal, who instantly picked up.

 _"Fate, we're searching for you—"_ Krystal didn't get to finish her sentence because Fate let out a loud sob, trying to say her name. _"Fate…"_

"K-Krystal… H-Her head… Krystal, her face…!" Fate cried, officially breaking down over Abygale's still body.

 _"Fate, please calm down… What's wrong with Abygale?"_ Krystal asked, sounding too calm for her own good. Sure, she sounded a little worried, but not by much.

"Her eyes…" Fate started, looking down at Abygale. There was blood running out of both of her eyes… basically her face and the back of her head seemed just crushed, but it was dark, so Fate couldn't tell how bad it actually was. Her chest was still slightly rising and falling, but barely. "Her head… I-It's, like, fucking crushed!"

 _"What…!? Wh-What do you mean… crushed?"_ Krystal asked, her tone full of disbelief.

"K-Krystal, h-her face…h-her head… I-It's bleeding! H-Her eyes are b-bleeding! H-Her nose, her mouth, just under her neck, _**they're all bleeding**_! _**It's like someone just fucking stabbed her**_!"

 _"F-Fate, take a breath… Listen to me. We're on our way… just hang in there…"_

* * *

Fate didn't know how long she was sitting there, holding Abygale as close to her as she possibly could without hurting the younger girl in any way. There was no sound except for the running river above them that luckily wasn't dripping down into the cavern. It twisted off into another direction before it could reach the bushes around the cavern, which was immensely lucky for the both of them right now… immensely lucky considering the situation.

But Fate had been crying the whole time. She didn't know why the others were taking so long and she didn't know how much longer Abygale had. Hell, how much longer did any of them have? This wasn't supposed to happen, especially not to Abygale. She was trying her best as a young kid in a messed up world… and this just wasn't at all fair

"… F-… Fate…?"

Fate immediately took a deep breath in, looking down at the young girl who could barely open her bleeding eyes. She looked so exhausted and so confused, but Fate didn't want her to know about everything that was going on just yet.

"H-Hey sweetheart… I-I'm here, okay?" Fate asked softly, faking a smile to try and help herself be more believable. Abygale's little hand gripped onto her arm and she had to let out a deep, heavy breath to avoid sobbing. "H-How are you feeling?"

"… Mom…?" Abygale asked softly again, feeling slightly unsure. She couldn't see with her eyes mostly closed and all bloody, most likely, and Fate let herself let go of a small sigh.

"Yah, it's me…" Fate replied, smiling a little bit and forcing out a light laugh. "This is a pretty twisted way to get an apology out of me."

There was a pause before Abygale started to laugh, very weakly and lightly. Even with how soft it was, she started coughing and it made her whimper in pain again, in which Fate squeezed her tightly, but not too tight.

"Hey, hey… It's okay, baby… I've got you, I've got you…" Fate reassured the little girl softly, listening as she let out a small, shaky sob.

"… I-It hurts…" Abygale sobbed, making Fate whimper a bit as she nodded frantically.

"I know… I know that it does, but we've got people coming, okay? We're all going to help you feel better." Fate promised, gaining a small nod from Abygale in reply. Then, she lifted her hand to find Fate's face, resting it on her cheek.

"F-Fate… I-I can't… see you…" Abygale told her. She suddenly brought her hand down, wanting to touch her face, but Fate immediately grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

"No, no, no, no, Abygale… D-Don't touch your face…" Fate mumbled, starting to cry again. Abygale whispered something incoherent before touching Fate's cheek again.

"Are you… crying…?" The little girl asked, but Fate shook her head.

"Y-You should try not to talk, Abygale… Just hold onto me, okay? Can you do that…?"

"… Yah…"

"What in the name of all that's holy are you two doing down there!?"

Fate never thought that she would ever be so happy to hear Porlyusica's voice in her entire life, but here she was being absolutely grateful for it.

"P-Porlyusica!?" Fate called up, her voice slightly cracking from how sore her throat had gotten after crying so much.

"I see you, child! I'm coming down!" Porlyusica called down, already sounding like she was halfway there. Fate nodded a little bit, holding onto Abygale tightly as she kept her eyes out for the pink-haired healer.

"P-Porlyusica is here…?" Abygale asked softly, having been able to stay awake for the little bit of time that they waited.

"Yah, she is. She's going to help you get better." Fate replied.

A moment passed before Abygale took a small, shallow breath and nodded, just as Porlyusica made her way over. She kneeled down, gently placing a hand on Fate's back.

"Put her on the ground and let me have a look." Porlyusica said, in which Fate nodded, gently putting Abygale on the ground in front of her. Porlyusica seemed to pause, looking down at the small and frail child, before nodding a little bit. "Alright, move back a little bit. I need some space to work and the others are going to be here soon."

Fate hesitated, but then she moved back a little bit, not going too far. There was no way that she was going to just leave Abygale's side. That was when she realized that Abygale had been losing a lot more blood than she thought… she had just been soaking it up into her clothes and that made her whimper a bit. She was losing her mind over this…

"How are you feeling?" Porlyusica asked Abygale, who took a small breath.

"Sleepy…" She replied softly, making Fate have to raise a hand to her mouth.

"Well, since I'm here, you can rest, okay?"

"… Okay…"

With that, Abygale drifted off to sleep and Fate broke down into tears, unable to handle how peaceful Abygale had drifted off. Despite the slow rising and falling of the little girl's chest, Fate couldn't help but worry if her little girl was dead or alive.

"I-Is she going to be okay…?" Fate asked softly through her sobs, gaining a small silence from Porlyusica before she answered.

"I'll do what I can." Porlyusica promised, gaining a small nod from Fate.

Moments passed as Porlyusica worked before they heard the others above them, coming down ever so slowly. Fate wasn't paying attention, however, and just stared at Abygale's fragile body. She looked dead already and Fate couldn't help but start to give up. Had she waited too long? Were they not going to be able to save her?

Suddenly, a pair of arms gently grabbed her, pulling her a little bit further away before holding her close. From the scent of warm milk and honey, she knew that it was Destiny and she continued to cry in his arms, hugging him tightly as she thought about the whole situation. This wasn't fair for anyone.

"Hey, shh… We're here now. She's gonna be okay…" Destiny promised softly, his breath tickling her ear. She didn't know whether to believe him or not, so she just nodded slightly and whispered to him.

"Okay…"


	16. War Against Tartaros

It was as if everything was going downhill really fast.

First, Abygale had gotten injured and out of that came her temporarily going blind. Sure, it was only temporary and she would be fairly fine within a couple of weeks, but those couple of weeks would be hell for her and horrible for everyone around her because she would need constant help while getting better.

Then, merely moments ago, Laxus and the Raijinshuu had returned from a simple job working at 8Island beaten up and full of magic barrier particles that were deathly to mages, and Yajima was with them. Freed had used all of his strength just to get them back to they could get help and hell, they were lucky that Porlyusica was already present.

Nonetheless, both incidents took a major toll on the Guild and everyone in it. Even though they all gathered in the infirmary to support their currently fallen members and each other, all of it was just so messed up. They were alive, but even the tiniest bit of magic barrier particles could kill anyone instantly. There wasn't much hope that they would recover…

"Laxus…"

They all looked over to Freed, who somehow had found his consciousness and his voice.

"Laxus… saved… the town." Freed told him, once again using all of his strength. "If… it wasn't for him… the town…"

"I know." Makarov cut him off, knowing that Freed was going to push himself too far if he kept talking. "And you did well bringing everyone home." Freed relaxed with a small, weak nod, staring at ceiling.

"But… thanks to Laxus… the town was saved."

Freed obviously had much belief in Laxus and nobody wanted to make the ill worse, so they kept their mouths shut, staring at the ground and trying to hold back their tears. They wished what Freed said was true. They wished that Laxus had saved the town full of magic barrier particles…but he hadn't. The town was still in danger and some of the kingdom's guards were trying their best to deal with it, since…

The Magic Council was destroyed by multiple explosions, taking most of the members both big and small along with it. It was almost like the world was ending and honestly, maybe it finally was. Maybe they just didn't know it yet.

"Is… the town… safe?" Freed suddenly asked, making all of them bite their tongues. There was a moment of silence before Makarov spoke.

"Yes."

Freed was relieved, but everyone else knew that it was a lie and they were trying their hardest not to let Freed know in any way. Everyone who had started crying muffled their sniffles and sobs, and everyone who was just plainly devastated tried to remain as plain-looking as possible. Some of them were just holding each other, trying to comfort each other and keep each other from breaking their facade.

Fate didn't know how many times she had told herself one simple thing. She didn't know how many times she had tried so very hard to keep herself from crying… but once again, she found herself right back in that exact spot, telling herself exactly what she had so many times. _Life isn't fair_.

Exactly straight after Freed passed out again, however, Natsu turned away and started walking to the door, stopping momentarily.

"Gramps…" He addressed Makarov, in which the old man merely looked up a little more. Natsu then clenched his hands into fists and raised his head, addressing everyone with 3 simple words that they agreed with.

" _ **This is war**_!"

* * *

Even so, none of them knew where to start. They barely knew anything about Tartaros, the Dark Guild that had attacked Laxus and the others. They only knew a few things, which were that it was the 3rd and last part of the Balam Alliance, they're after former members of the Magic Council for some reason and that they were real big jerks.

That's when Ethan and Gray suddenly exchanged eye contact, something rare between the pair of mages, and then Ethan spoke.

"Then if we go to a former members place, they'll come to us?" He asked, in which by some of the other's faces, they happened to agree.

"But the addresses of the former members are secret. Nobody knows them." Ryeluen told them currently sitting beside Macao, who was reading a recent newspaper and nodding his head.

"Why is that?" Happy asked, in which Ruri turned towards him.

"If their addresses were known, a lot of bad people would go seeking revenge." She explained, in which he nodded in understanding.

"Then… We're at a dead end?" Cana asked, but Loke suddenly spoke up. He had been summoned by Lucy to help everyone move Laxus and the others into the infirmary.

"No, we're not." He stated, suddenly putting on his natural grin as everyone turned to him. "I know the addresses of former Council members. Not all of them, though."

"How do you know, Loke-san?" Wendy asked. Almost immediately, Loke started whispering into Wendy's ears and she turned a bright red, obviously answering the question to everyone: women.

Nonetheless, they marked the places on a map and geared up, prepared to go and protect some of the former council members from members of Tartaros. This wasn't only to protect them, but to get information and to avenge their friends, possibly to save them as well.

"The enemy is Tartaros! They're a cornerstone of the Balam Alliance, like Oracion Seis and Grimoire Heart were. However, we destroyed both of them. And like them, Tartaros will regret making an enemy out of us!  
Our comrades have been hurt. Their pain is ours. The blood that flows through their bodies flows through ours. This pain! This suffering! Turn it into fighting spirit and avenge them!  
We don't act out of justice! We act out of will! Take pride in our bond and drive away your family's enemy!"

For the first time ever, instead of agreeing silently, Fate let out a yell of agreement alongside her Guildmates. Abygale getting hurt was one thing, but for somebody to purposely hurt 4 of her friends and a well-respected elder amongst the Guild… It was something that she wasn't going to forgive Tartaros for doing.

* * *

No matter how much Fate and her team wanted to fight, they figured that it would be best for now if they stayed back to do some research and to help everyone else in finding other former Council members' addresses, especially because of Rory's calculation magic.

Nonetheless, most of their groups that had headed out ended up too late to save the member's they had gone to protect. That was why when Lucy's group checked in and told them that Michello, their Council member that they were sent to protect, was safe, everyone rejoiced.

"Did you get any info out of Michello!?" Makarov asked, in which Lucy turned to the former Council member with a frown. He mumbled something about something called Face and everyone stopped what they were doing, gathering around to listen. "Face?"

 _"Face… is one of the Council's weapons."_

Everyone started mumbling and whispering to each other, and it got a little hard for Fate to hear, but nonetheless, she kept up as best as she could.

 _"We have many weapons. The way we manage each one if different… depending on its levels of danger and necessity. For example, Etherion. It's a super powerful magic cannon that can target an entire continent. It has the power to decimate a nation in a moment. Firing it requires the permission of the nine current Council members and activation codes of 10 senior members."_

"What kind of weapon is Face!?" Makarov yelled over the communication Lacrima, causing Michello to flinch. "I know you're sworn to secrecy, but this is more important!"

 _"… Magical pulse bomb… It's a weapon that would destroy all magic over the whole continent."_

Everyone immediately freaked out and Fate couldn't say that she was much different. Some of them had powers that weren't magic, but they still had magic in their bodies and thus, there wouldn't be much of a difference. If magic were to vanish…

 _ **So would they**_.


	17. Update!

**UPDATE:**

I'm so sorry for not updating recently! I've been really into writing other stuff and I decided that with my editing, I'm going to post it (the edited stories) on my Ao3 account: Charles_Quake. I'm very sorry! I will still be updating on here before I upload of Ao3, but I need some inspiration and that's why I'm going back to edit and rewrite it and stuff. I hope you understand!


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